I want to tell you a story…Now imagine he’s Garrett Gilbert.
Nice sentiment and no one should boo any kid, especially one that works hard to do his best for the team. However, that sentiment should not confuse the situation we are faced with. Emotions be damned, as you have said over the last couple of days…let’s use logic.
No. 2– Folks, we’ve been here before ...
Of course we have. That is the reason the fan base is so quick to light the fires and grab the pitchforks. However, the history of failure at this position does not alleviate the need to make the right decision THIS YEAR. In the end that’s what we all care about.
there are two absolutes that we can agree on.
The first one is that Tyrone Swoopes and Shane Buechele are both taking shared reps with the first-team offense. We can quibble about who has more snaps on any given day because those numbers are constantly varied, but not one person in the world would claim that up until now it has not been a shared position.
Agreed. Both are getting times with the ones although reports seemed varied on who gets the most snaps with the ones. There were a couple of recent reports that Shane gets more reps when the players are allowed to keep going if they move the chains. We have all seen that during the open practice as well and it should not surprise us that Shane is winning that battle. But agreed. Time is definitely split.
The second thing that we can all agree on is that if the coaches know with absolute certainty that Shane Buechele is going to start the opener, he needs to be taking every first-team rep that his human hands can get. We’re talking about a true freshman potentially playing in his first game in prime-time on a Sunday night against a top 10 team that just happens to be the most well-known program in college football.
If he takes 1,000 reps every day, it might not be enough if 1,001 are available. I feel like we can all agree to that, right?
No, I disagree. I firmly believe that Gilbert is smart enough to know that BOTH players are going to play against ND and during the season. Gilbert is a true freshman on the small side that likes to run. The odds are that Swoopes will be called on to play a little or a lot due to Shane getting his bell rung or just needs a few moments to collect himself are extremely high. On top of that, the 18 Wheeler is one hell of a package and we would be stupid to just throw that play away. Therefore, if you KNOW you are going to need both players at ND and during the season perhaps you play it conservatively so that both QBs are prepped in the new offense. The split reps are certainly mitigated by the fact that Gilbert’s total number of reps in practice is extremely high. Let’s say game 1 or game 3 Buechele gets hurt after receiving all the snaps and Swoopes hits the field unprepared for the new offense? You’ve just painted yourself in a corner when you knew there was a high probability of that happening.
The fact that both QBs are taking snaps does not automatically mean it is a Competition, but rather CONTINGENCY planning, which I think is an extremely wise move.
As crazy as it sounds, Tyrone Swoopes is ahead in the competition . Maybe not by a lot, but maybe not by a mere smidge, either. If this wasn’t the case, none of the last 384 words would have been written for reasons explained in those 384 words.
I have seen no evidence outside the recent OBs outlier reports to suggest this is even remotely true. It surely runs afoul of my own eyes. Let’s use your own analysis for that scenario, if Swoopes (your big Senior QB) is ahead, then why waste reps on a freshman that you don’t need to play? Swoopes certainly does not have the injury risk factor, Shane doesn’t have a proven specialty package, so if Swoopes is ahead, then why “waste valuable reps” on a true freshman? It doesn’t make sense. The Contingency plan with Shane ahead makes more sense.
The coaches aren’t stupid.
Regarding Gilbert, I agree, which is why I think both players receiving reps is about contingency planning for a situation that WILL come up. That is what I believe is happening. If that is NOT what is happening, then I have to believe that Strong is forcing this on Gilbert. As you explained, old school coaches do not like playing true freshman. It’s the conservative call. And if there is anything that describes Charlie Strong it is “conservative” and “slow to make changes”. We only need to think back to Shawn Watson and Jonathon Gray to see that he defaults with the devil he knows rather than the devil he doesn’t know, and contrary to his words, he does roll with a senior he “likes” even if there is a younger more dynamic player(s) behind him. My main assumption is that Gilbert is controlling the reps and not Strong. If I am wrong on that, then god help us all.
Freshmen… That’s 18 without really even flinching. That doesn’t include guys like Malcolm Roach, Chris Brown or Reggie Hemphill, guys I could also easily see getting on the field this season.
One of these days, there’s going to be a hellacious group of upperclassmen in this program, but it won’t be this year, as the numbers will dictate that somewhere between 40-50 sophomores, redshirt freshmen and true freshmen will be carrying a ton of water this season.
We can certainly agree on that. We need to win this season so we can keep that momentum going and these players have continuity of coaching.
Jerrod Heard is going to have an impact on offense this season. He’s taken to his new position like a duck to water. If he keeps showing out, the coaches are going to increase his workload significantly going into the Notre Dame game. There’s literally zero film of him doing anything at wide receiver anywhere and that’s a pretty big advantage to have, given his skill set.
One of the great stories emerging form this season. I am very happy this looks to be working out and proud of this young man for finding a way to make an impact for his team (and himself). I hope he blows it up.
Simone Biles is the first American gymnast to ever win three golds (vault, all-around champion and team champion) in the same Olympic games. Yeah, she’s kind of good. Three down, two to go and she’ll be the new GOAT in women’s gymnastics.
She is a class act with an extreme amount of power, but the GOAT? Has she had a perfect score? On any event? Also, (and this is not to take away from the young lady’s hard work and obvious talent) but I would like to see her compete with the old Soviet programs of the cold war. I don’t think she wins all those medals against that competition. Is she a contender? Perhaps. But given the history of that sport I can't give her that title yet.
For your review:
Olga Korbut
Olga Valentinovna Korbut, also known as the "Sparrow from Minsk", is a former Belarusian gymnast who won four gold medals and two silver medals at the Summer Olympic Games, in which she competed in 1972 and 1976 for the Soviet team.
Nadia Comăneci
Nadia Comăneci is a Romanian former gymnast, winner of three gold medals at the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal and the first gymnast to be awarded a perfect score of 10 in an Olympic gymnastics event. She also won two gold medals at the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow.
