Juggling quarterbacks in and out of games has been the protocolfor LSU the first three weeks of the college football season.
During the Tigers’ 10-9 loss to Auburn Saturday, I becameutterly confused when neither quarterback was allowed to take overthe game.
Marcus Randall marched the Tigers 80 yards down the field for atouchdown and was yanked for JaMarcus Russell on the next series.The two split playing time the entire game with Randall playingfive series compared to Russell’s six series.
Imagine the insecurity the two quarterbacks must feel in thissystem. The offensive line, receivers and running backsaren’t benefiting from these mixed messages sent by the LSUcoaching staff either. Excluding Arkansas State, LSU’srent-a-win, the Tigers’ offense is averaging a mere 311.5yards per game.
Want a cure for this disease?
Apply the rules of the dating show “Elimidate” tothe quarterback situation — pick a starting quarterback foreach game and stick with him.
LSU coach Nick Saban has been flirting with both Randall andRussell for way too long. He doesn’t want either of them toget their feelings hurt, yet the team is suffering from theinconsistency at the position.
“Somebody’s got to take the bull by the horns atthis position and get the kind of execution we need,” Sabansaid in his Monday press conference.
The “somebody” Saban is speaking about is himself.He needs to take control.
When the end of “Elimidate” comes, the chosen guymust pick between the two ladies, or vice versa, no matter how muchhe may want to choose them both.
Saban doesn’t have to be married to one quarterback. Hedoesn’t even have to make it a serious relationship. The”Elimidate” rule only asks him who he wants to date ona particular night.
Dating two girls on the same night is just asking fortrouble.
But Saban has convinced himself he can do basically the samething with quarterbacks.
“Both guys do some things well and they make some mistakesthat they need to improve on,” Saban said. “Whataffects the team is inconsistent play, not who’splaying.”
Each quarterback is his own person with a personality of hisown. The consistency of the team has everything to do with who isunder center because a quarterback is the control center of theoffense.
Switching between Randall and Russell is the same as having aconversation with a feisty brunette and a perky blonde. You mighthave a good time with each of them separately, however, with bothof them yakking at the same time, the words get jumbled and sendsyour brain into panic.
Physically, Randall stands at 6-foot-2 while Russell issignificantly taller at 6-foot-5. This makes a difference in thesimple mechanics of the game such as handing the ball to runningbacks and the exchange under center — not to mention theshotgun.
Both also have significantly different personalities thatcontribute to their playing styles. Randall likes to scramble forextra yardage, while Russell is a pocket passer.
I’m not saying I should tell Saban who to ask to the dance(football game), but I bet he’ll have more fun with just onedate — I mean quarterback.