How Napier’s stubbornness could guarantee Texas A&M football a win vs. Florida “Lagway is undeniably talented, however, and we’ve seen enough of Mertz’s ceiling to know that this may not be the decision that gives the Gators the best chance to win. Especially against a ferocious defensive front for the Aggies, neither guy will have a lot of time to sit in the pocket and look downfield. If Napier is indeed sticking with Mertz due to the aforementioned bunker mentality, then I think this is a huge benefit to the Aggies. Not only for the present, but possibly the future. Here’s hoping Texas A&M football can take care of business no matter who is behind center come Saturday.” Don’t open ‘possibly the future’.
Kelly Bryant was returning to Clemson in 2018 and had just went to the CFP with Clemson in 2017 but Dabo did what was best for business, went with Lawrence (after game 4) and won a natty
Kids coming out of HS back then hadn’t had a personal qb coach for 5-6 years. Kids come in much more prepared these days.
yep. This isn’t 1994 anymore, true freshmen QB’s play early a lot more than ever. Lagway is a 3 year QB no matter where he ends his college career at, you better get the most outta him while you can
I get your point, but Hurts was the starter all season in 2017 until he got replaced by Tua after they got down at halftime in the National Championship game. Tua led the comeback and then took over the following year. In a twist of fate, Tua got hurt in the 2018 SEC Championship Game and Hurts lead them to a comeback victory. Both games were against Georgia.
A loss to TAM by limiting touches for Lag would be a devastating loss that will only create more noise to remove BN. You only get so many touches in this game for the offense, and switching qb's creates very little rhythm. Furthermore, starting GM who knows with every single incompletion he might get yanked created further pressure on him. I suspect the pass rush will be as intense as the Miami game and we know how that affected GM. TAM will defend the short passes and Mertz will either be sacked or throw incompletions. Could get ugly quickly. Get to 6-6 record, BN just may be retain thus retaining Lag. Another losing season and more than likely BN is fired and Lag goes elsewhere. We have imo a generational qb in Lag and to lose him due to poor coaching mismanagement is really really bad.
No one disputes that. Question is who gives UF the best chance of winning that game? A qb who is mobile, who will force TAM to cover deep or a qb less mobile, their D who will stack the line and our qb who lives off of 5-7 yard passes?
How well did GM manage against UM's D? With all his experience it didn't help. Go back to Franks who had tons of experience yet struggled, then comes Trask. I would agree with you if GM last year led the team to a 7-5 or 8-4 record but that was not the case. His stats were good but keep in mind more often we were playing catch up and teams were playing off. No question GM is a good kid, loyal to the program, but BN owes it to the rest of the team not just one to play the players who give UF the best chance to win.
That would be another in a long line of mistakes. we have already seen what is very close to Mertz’ ceiling. We have many more problems worse than quarterback, and Mertz cannot overcome those. if Mertz plays, we will lose most of our games. There is an outside chance that DJ could win a couple of those games that Mertz would not have been able to.
Jones had to pass just about every time just to win the game so yes his numbers were high. We have seen what GM can do and his short dink and dunk passes will not work. TAM will crowd the line, force GM into incompletions and running lanes will be jammed. I'm afraid we will waste a lot of valuable possessions. Our D will give up yards and points to TAM which means if we don't keep up with them we're looking at a double digit loss. Let's be honest, GM is far easier to defend vs Lag. I'm not saying Lag won't struggle, I'm sure he will, but he is more capable of big plays and as qb TAMs D will be harder to defend our O with Lag as qb.
Good point. That said, reading top defenses requires experience. When has DJ ever seen a strong defense? Miami's 4th Quarter defense was different from their first half defense, and we still don't know if Miami's defense is all that good. I've seen this scenario before in 2006, so I remain cautious about DJ against a strong, fresh defense. He's still green insofar as being exposed to top defenses. But I damn sure hope you're right...
Me personally, I would have hidden behind concussion protocol for another week. Let dj have the start, if he’s still on fire against an SEC defense he owns the job, if he doesn’t, you bring Mertz back the following week once he’s “recovered”.
What I said is correct. I didn’t really take a position on DJ vs Mertz, other than the one in the post just previous to this one, which isn’t a strong advocation for either.
It was at the time. The noise in the system was deafening after Chris slid short of a first down on 3d and 1 against Tennessee, and Tim came in to pick it. After the jump passes against LSU. The loss to Auburn. Then the fans booing Ch...err...Meyer... against Kentucky. Granted, they were a noisy minority, but they DID exist. Remember another poster's sig line? "We'll never win the SEC with Leak as our starting QB. .That is easy money..."
It is...in retrospect. But GM was in first grade in 2006. What actually happened in history needs to be viewed in context. Tebowmania ran wild in 2006 and (justifiably) carried on throughout his time in Gainesville, and indeed, in Denver. Tim was named The Chosen One when he arrived. I was 50 in 2006...
