[BJWilliams]

Well guys we may have concluded the 2008-2009 Athletic season (well with the exception of track and field) but its not too early to start looking ahead to the new football season so with that I am going to take a look at the 2009 team leading up to training camp. What better place to start than on the offense with the quarterbacks:


Lost:

Brock Smith 6-3 Hershey, PA

2008 Stats: 12 Games 179-278-6 INT 2620 Yards 19 TD


Returning:

• Spencer Landis 6-2 Senior Dacula, GA
  2008 Stats: 5 Games 11-17-0 INT 88 Yards 0 TD
  
  Mike Brown 6-0 Redshirt Sophomore Charlottesville, VA
  2008 Stats: 12 Games 2-4-0 INT 25 Yards 0 TD
  
  Tyler Brennan 6-3 Redshirt Freshman Anderson, SC
  2008 Stats: Redhirted

Newcomers:

Brian Hudson 6-4 200 Lbs Stafford, VA (Brooke Point HS)
Tommy Beecher 6-2 220 Lbs Concord, NC (Concord HS/South Carolina)

Brock Smith was the man at QB during Danny Rocco's first three seasons at the helm and he made amazing strides in his three seasons. Landis is the most experienced of the three having played behind Smith his previous three seasons, but Rocco decided to give dual threat Mike Brown the start in the Spring Game. Both played admirably with almost equal stat lines, Brown finishing 9-14 for 77 yards and Landis finishing 8-13 also for 77 yards. Landis has some mobility in his own right as he had a couple nice runs although Brown has that Slash/Wildcat ability as he played RB last year. Brennan showed some flashes in the spring game but this looks to be a two horse race going into training camp, although with the addition of South Carolina transfer Tommy Beecher that will certainly make things a lot more interesting. Beecher could be the dark horse in the QB battle although he hasnt had a chance to work with the LU offense that I am aware of. If he can acclimate himself and show the skills he had when he was down at SC, he could get the job.[/u]

[LCA&LU Mom]

Did I miss something? Is Tommy Beecher not coming to LU this year?

[BJWilliams]

I was going by the 2008 roster. I havent heard that he isnt coming but I'll add him in.

[RagingTireFire]

Great start to the prospectus.

[SuperJon]

Great start to the prospectus.

Please tell me you wrote that in the language of sarcasm.

[BJWilliams]

Well do remember Im writing from my own personal perspective. If you dont like it Im sorry but that is what Im thinking.

[TDDance234]

a·pos·tro·phe, NOUN: The superscript sign ( ' ) used to indicate the omission of a letter or letters from a word, the possessive case, or the plurals of numbers, letters, and abbreviations.

[SuperJon]

That was your 4000th post. Good job on that.

[BJWilliams]

Edit: As a clarification when I was referring to CSU I was referring to Charleston Southern. Anyhoo, saying both Brown and Landis were frontrunners was the wrong choice of words. As I said in the first post, both had fairly equal stat lines in the spring game (with Brown registering one INT). Brown affords a lot of versatility with his speed and if he isnt the #1 QB next year he certainly can be used in a number of ways that Landis couldnt (and probably wouldnt). Landis has the experience but I do think that Brown is #1 going into training camp.

Im sorry if my writing is nowhere near the quality of our resident scribe...

[RagingTireFire]

Great start to the prospectus.

Please tell me you wrote that in the language of sarcasm.

You tell me.

My personal feeling is that both Landis and Brown are the frontrunners for the job, Beecher could surprise, and Brennan will get some snaps. We dont know for sure if Beecher is going to set the mountain on fire when he starts practicing this fall but I think he could do very good things. I think somebody referenced a 1-A/FBS transfer from CSU that didnt even see the field, and one closer to home is Paul Troth. He could come in and blow people away, or he could come in and end up the third QB for a year...dont know for certain. I think he could make it an interesting QB battle come July.

You just said absolutely nothing. Based on that synopsis, I could be in the running for the QB job. Landis and Brown cannot possibly both be frontrunners. That kind of negates the entire concept of "frontrunner". Also, there is no such thing as a "1-A/FBS transfer from CSU". Unless you mean Colorado State.

[ToTheLeft]

Great start to the prospectus.

Please tell me you wrote that in the language of sarcasm.

You tell me.

My personal feeling is that both Landis and Brown are the frontrunners for the job, Beecher could surprise, and Brennan will get some snaps. We dont know for sure if Beecher is going to set the mountain on fire when he starts practicing this fall but I think he could do very good things. I think somebody referenced a 1-A/FBS transfer from CSU that didnt even see the field, and one closer to home is Paul Troth. He could come in and blow people away, or he could come in and end up the third QB for a year...dont know for certain. I think he could make it an interesting QB battle come July.

You just said absolutely nothing. Based on that synopsis, I could be in the running for the QB job. Landis and Brown cannot possibly both be frontrunners. That kind of negates the entire concept of "frontrunner". Also, there is no such thing as a "1-A/FBS transfer from CSU". Unless you mean Colorado State.

And people haven't wanted a CSU quarterback since the Moses Moreno days.

[BJWilliams]

Ok I know what I was tryin to say and I guess I didnt quite word it right. Im gonna go back and fix it and hopefully itll make sense for you then. and like I said above...I aint no Chris Lang obviously...

[RagingTireFire]

...I aint no Chris Lang obviously...

Chris Lang makes informed observations. You just ran off a laundry list of players.

[BJWilliams]

Ok like I said Im not of his caliber...Im tryin to be a decent writer though. Frankly I think I did a better job last year...(I just hope I dont get all down and give up on writing after this)

[RagingTireFire]

I'm giving you constructive criticism here. Caliber of writing has nothing to do with it. Be informed and draw conclusions. Don't just run down a list of names we already know.

[BJWilliams]

Thanks...I'll bear that in mind for the next one on running backs (that one comes next week)

[Chris Lang]

With that in mind, BJ, I'd offer one suggestion ... wait a little bit before posting more. It's going to be extremely difficult to draw conclusions about this team -- especially on offense -- until fall practice starts, because three key players at the three offensive skills positions are complete unknowns at this point -- Holloway, Beecher, Freddie Brown. They could all be starters. They could all be backups. Nobody knows until practice starts.

The defense is a little bit more stable, so maybe if you keep going in the summer, start on that side of the ball and work your way back to offense.

[BJWilliams]

Thanks man...I'll take both your advice and RTF's advice. I'll try the defense (start with D-line) next week instead

[Rooster Cogburn]

With that in mind, BJ, I'd offer one suggestion ... wait a little bit before posting more. It's going to be extremely difficult to draw conclusions about this team -- especially on offense -- until fall practice starts, because three key players at the three offensive skills positions are complete unknowns at this point -- Holloway, Beecher, Freddie Brown. They could all be starters. They could all be backups. Nobody knows until practice starts.

The defense is a little bit more stable, so maybe if you keep going in the summer, start on that side of the ball and work your way back to offense.

I don't think we have had this much unknown under Rocco until now. It will be interesting to see how the coaches and players respond. We don't yet know what we have, but I'm excited to find out.

[BJWilliams]

I think a LOT of people share that sentiment RC...and they are going to get tested right out the gate too.

[Blessed1]

Looks good BJ!...But uh, you may want to change your occupation title in your blog now.