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.

Unitas Watch '08

The preseason watch list was released for the Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award. This award has been given to the top PASSING QB since 1987. I emphasize passing because as you will see Mr. Tim Tebow (aka John Rambo's mentor) is not on the watch list.

Here are the players that are listed:

C.J. Bacher, Northwestern
Todd Boeckman, Ohio State
Rhett Bomar, Sam Houston State
Tom Brandstater, Fresno State
Hunter Cantwell, Louisville
Rudy Carpenter, Arizona State
Chase Clement, Rice
Chase Daniel, Missouri
Joe Ganz, Nebraska
Sean Glennon, Virginia Tech
Cullen Harper, Clemson
Graham Harrell, Texas Tech
Chase Holbrook, New Mexico State
Brian Hoyer, Michigan State
Will Hudgens, Memphis
Brian Johnson, Utah
Nate Longshore, California
Tyler Lorenzen, Connecticut
Stephen McGee, Texas A&M
Ben Olson, UCLA
Curtis Painter, Purdue
John Parker Wilson, Alabama
Mike Teel, Rutgers
Willie Tuitama, Arizona
Pat White, West Virginia
Drew Willy, University of Buffalo


My favorites to win are Graham Harrell of Texas Tech, Cullen Harper of Clemson, Chase Daniel of Missouri and Curtis Painter of Purdue.

Airing it out: Top 25 QB's in all the land

Since I'm always right about everything, it should come as no shock at the end of the year when you look back at this list and realize every single QB is ranked correctly.Phil Steele wishes he had my keen college football intellect.

Since I love talking college football and you love reading it, I'm going to try and produce a top 25 for every position. Since this is very time consuming and I actually have a life, this will be very difficult to accomplish. Nevertheless, I will begin with the poster boys of any team, the quarterbacks.


1.Tim Tebow-The returning Heisman trophy winner will once again be the favorite to take home the hardware. While another 20/20 season is unlikely, he should once again produce monster numbers.

2.Chase Daniel- The Missouri QB should once again be in contention for the Heisman trophy this season. If Daniel plays to his potential, he is an absolute game-breaker.


3.Pat White- A lot of people are down on the West Virginia QB this year. I don't really see White having a drop-off this season. White, along with Noel Devine form one of the better rushing attacks in the country.

4.Sam Bradford- Bradford exploded onto the scene last season while leading the Sooners to yet another BCS bowl berth. If Bradford can produce the same type of numbers this year against defenses designed to stop him, he should be in Heisman discussions.

5.Graham Harrell-If Harrell were putting up his numbers anywhere else in the nation he would be a consensus number 1 QB. The fact that my 7th grade chemistry teacher can step in at Texas Tech and have a good season sort of diminishes Harrell's accomplishments.

6.Rudy Carpenter-Dennis Erickson has brought out the best of Carpenter at Arizona St. I look for Rudy to have an even better year than last season. Although that would be rather difficult against a much tougher schedule.

7.Matthew Stafford-Although I hate Matthew Stafford and the Georgia Bulldogs, I believe Stafford is a top ten talent QB. The Bulldogs should start the season at number one, and Stafford will have to play his best to ensure they remain there.

8.Juice Williams- The Illini are looking to capitalize on last season's Rose Bowl appearance. Juice Williams to Arrelious Benn is one of the most dangerous pass-catch combos in the country.

9.Kellen Lewis-I might be stretching just a bit by putting Lewis in the top ten, but I feel the Hoosiers are going to be much improved this season and that all starts with Lewis. Kellen Lewis has been the best QB at Indiana since the Antwan Randle El days.

10.Dan LeFevour- If not for Tim Tebow, Central Michigan's Dan LeFevour would be the top dual threat QB din the nation. The Chippewas don't get too much pub.However, with a superstar like LeFevour leading the way that can all change.

11.Colt McCoy- The Texas QB fell on somewhat hard times last season. I look for McCoy to turn things around and have a great season in Austin.

12.Nate Davis- Davis is easily the most underrated QB in the nation. Playing at Ball St. will do that to you. There are numerous opportunities to catch this kid in action as the Cardinals are featured on several ESPN telecasts.

13.Mark Sanchez-I'm still not completely sold on Sanchez at USC. It seems like with recent successes, just being a Trojan QB puts you in the conversation for top QB.

14.Cullen Harper-Harper had a breakout season last year for Clemson. I look for him to build on those successes and finally lead the Tigers to a BCS bowl berth.

15.Todd Boeckman-Boeckman really surprised me last season. I remember talking so much trash to my Ohio St. friends because I thought Boeckman was garbage. I'm not making that mistake this season.

16.Matt Grothe-I always tell my USF friends that Grothe is a poor man's Tebow. They often get upset and start bashing Tebow. What they don't realize is that's compliment. Not too many QB's are tough enough to play like Tebow, and Grothe is one of them.

17.Dustin Grutza- Cincinnati should have no drop-off at the QB position after the departure of Ben Mauck. Grutza played a terrific spring game for the Bearcats.

18.Jake Locker-Locker may be the biggest QB in college football. Ty Willingham ran too much of the offense through Locker last season, resulting in an injury. If the Huskies can find a decent ground game, I can see Locker being the breakout star of this Fall.

19.Max Hall-I'm always skeptical of anyone named Max, but this BYU QB has changed my tone. I really like the way Hall plays, and he should lead the Cougars to an undefeated season.

20.Todd Reesing-The diminutive Reesing and Kansas Jayhawks were the darlings of college football last season. With much of the offense back, I expect Reesing to put up similar numbers once again this season.

21.Curtis Painter- It seems like Painter has been at Purdue for 8 years now. It's always good to have that feeling about your quarterback. More than any other position, experience is a key in determining a great QB.

22.Zac Robinson- Robinson was the inadvertent cause of Mike Gundy's tirade last season. It's unfortunate that his great performance was overlooked because of his coach's speech. Robinson will need a stellar season if he wants to emerge from Sam Bradford's shadow in the state of Oklahoma.

23.Rusty Smith-Rusty doesn't get too much love while playing down at Florida Atlantic. Living in the state I have had the opportunity to see him play a few times and trust me, he is the real deal.

24.Chase Holbrook-Holbrook has thrived under Hal Mumme's tutelage at New Mexico State. His numbers did take a slight dip last season, but he should bounce back just nicely this fall.

25.Riley Skinner-Wake Forest's momentum does not appear to be slowing down any time soon. I expect another big season from the Demon Deacons this season. It all starts with the talented Skinner at QB.