QB's feeling the heat

No other position on a football team receives the accolades that the QB position does. Conversely, if things don't work out, it is often blamed on the QB. Playing QB is a very high risk/reward job.

There are a few quarterbacks out there this season that are feeling the heat from coaches, fans and fellow students. These QB's could be feeling the pressure for several reasons; they're coming off a sub-par season, they're replacing a legend or they are trying to live up to expectations they themselves have built up.

I have made a list of the top 20 QB's that are feeling all kinds of pressure heading into the 2008 season.

These are in no particular order.

• Jonathan Crompton- Tennessee- Crompton will be replacing Erik Ainge at the QB position. Volunteer fans have grown weary of the underachieving football team. If Crompton doesn't get off to a fast start, this could be a bad season for Tennessee.
• Mark Sanchez- USC- Sanchez will be replacing John David Booty at SC. It seems that the QB position has consistently gotten worse over the past few years for the Trojans. If Sanchez wants to break that trend, he will need to erase the memory of his last start, the upset loss to Stanford at home.
• Todd Reesing- Kansas- Reesing and the Jayhawks have built the expectations in Lawrence very high. In fact, it may be too high for the diminutive QB. Reesing is out to prove to everyone that last season was not a fluke.
• Jimmy Clausen- Notre Dame- The best way to describe last season for Clausen: horrible. As bad as Clausen's season was, it's hard to feel sorry for a guy that showed up to Spring practice in a limo. Clausen needs to prove that he is over last season's ass-pounding to silence the critics.
• Drew Waetherford- Florida St.- Can you remember a worse QB to start all 4 years for a BCS school? I sure can't. Weatherford is on par to become the 'Noles' all time leading passer by seasons end. Still, Weatherford's career can only be viewed as mediocre.
• Willie Tuitama- Arizona- At times, Tuitama has looked like a bonafide superstar. At other times, he has looked like a 3rd string JV QB. It will be up to Tuitama to get the Cats into a bowl game for the first time in the Mike Stoops era.
• Tom Brandstater- Fresno St.- Expectations surrounding the Bulldog program are high. Personally, I don't see what all the hype is about. Brandstater is a solid starting QB, but he will have to play out of his mind for the Bulldogs to live up to the preseason predictions.
• Adam Weber- Minnesota- Weber had a decent freshmen season for an awful Minnesota team. He will have to step up his game and improve in the win column to fight off incoming freshmen phenom MarQueis Gray.
• Matthew Stafford- Georgia- The Bulldogs are seemingly a consensus pick to go all the way this season. It all starts and ends with Stafford at the QB position. We all know Georgia's run game will be exceptional and their defense will be solid. It will be UGA's passing game that will have to become more consistent for the Dawg's to make it to a title game.
• Jarrett Lee-LSU- The Tigers seemed to have all the cards in place to make another run at the NC. That is until QB Ryan Perrilloux was dismissed from the team. Jarrett Lee is now expected to step in and lead the title defense for the Bayou Bengals.
• Hunter Cantwell- Louisville- Cantwell will be replacing Brian Brohm for the Cardinals this season. It will be Cantwell's job to lead Louisville to a bounce back year after a disappointing 2007 campaign.
• Colt McCoy- Texas- McCoy faced some pretty high expectations last season, and the consensus thought is that he failed to meet them. The pressure will be on McCoy once again to lead Texas to the Big XII title.
• Casey Dick-Arkansas- Much maligned Casey Dick finally has a pass happy coach in Bobby Petrino. If Dick can't do dick with Petrino tutoring him than there's no hope for him.
• Sean Canfield-Oregon St.- All the pieces are in play for Oregon St. to have a surprising year under Mike Riley. All the pieces except consistent play from the QB. That means it all comes down to how well Sean Canfield can perform.
• Tim Tebow- Florida- Tebow will have the biggest target of any other player in America on his back this season. That's what winning a Heisman can do for you. Also, the Gators are expected to contend for the national title once again.
• Max Hall- BYU- A lot of people are picking BYU to be this year's non-BCS Cinderella. That's a lot of pressure to put on a team coming into the season. Jared Zabransky of Boise St. and Colt Brennan of Hawaii were able to live up to the hype. Will Hall be able to?
• Chase Holbrook-New Mexico St.- Holbrook has put up record-breaking numbers under Hal Mumme at New Mexico St. Unfortunately, these numbers have not transferred to wins. The Aggies are in trouble of being demoted to 1-AA if they fail to generate more attendance. That means NMSU will HAVE to win more games.
• T.J. Yates- North Carolina- Butch Davis has the Tar Heels ready to make a bowl game appearance. All he needs is consistent play from the QB. With Mike Paulus waiting in the wings, Yates will have to really step his game up.
• Giovanni Vizza- North Texas- Vizza will have to fend off highly touted freshman and coach's son Riley Dodge to remain the Mean Green's starting QB. I know no one cares since it's North Texas, but this could be a very interesting QB battle.
• Martevious Young- Southern Miss- Last year, Southern Miss played musical chairs with their QB's. New head coach Larry Fedora would like to find a permanent solution at the position. Young right now is the favorite to win the spot, but he will have to cut down on the bad plays to remain the starter.