The QB battle

[ZachTheZip]

Who will be the starter against OSU? Nicely with the experience, Moore with the potential, D'Orazio as a dark horse?

It was recently reported on an Ole Miss premium forum that Moore will be the starter, according to a source within the Akron Athletic Department. If you remember, Moore originally attended Ole Miss over a slew of other BCS offers before leaving for his JUCO.

[xu9697]

Who will be the starter against OSU? Nicely with the experience, Moore with the potential, D'Orazio as a dark horse?

It was recently reported on an Ole Miss premium forum that Moore will be the starter, according to a source within the Akron Athletic Department. If you remember, Moore originally attended Ole Miss over a slew of other BCS offers before leaving for his JUCO.

I am not sure if D'Orazio is REALLY in the conversation, but I do think Moore and Nicely should both get snaps during the OSU game (unless one CLEARLY outplays the other in Fall camp). I know OSU is going to be down, and yes it would be great to come up with a win...but I think we need to realistically use this game as a chance to see both QBs against Big 10 competition.

[Captain Kangaroo]

It was recently reported on an Ole Miss premium forum that Moore will be the starter, according to a source within the Akron Athletic Department.

Did the source have a pointy hat?

[K92]

Who offered Moore other than Mississippi and Syracuse? Two schools is not a slew, Zach.

[GP1]

I am not sure if D'Orazio is REALLY in the conversation, but I do think Moore and Nicely should both get snaps during the OSU game (unless one CLEARLY outplays the other in Fall camp).

D'Orazio is not in the conversation. This NEEDS to be a two horse race. We don't have time for experimentation. Coach I needs to pick one and ride that horse. The only way the #2 gets in against tosu is if the we are getting killed and it is time to clear the benches. Not having a #1 QB going into tosu is exactly the indecision this program needs to do without.

[johnnyzip84]

Who offered Moore other than Mississippi and Syracuse? Two schools is not a slew, Zach.

Actually, his original Scout profile lists some big time programs who offered.

[Buckzip]

In the MAC, you can win a lot of games by just having a stud at QB.

[GP1]

In the MAC, you can win a lot of games by just having a stud at QB.

Exactly. Piling up points and watching the other team implode trying to keep up is how one wins in the MAC. I guess my only question is, once we find our #1, is the guy a stud or not? We need a stud QB, but do we have one?

[K92]

Who offered Moore other than Mississippi and Syracuse? Two schools is not a slew, Zach.

Actually, his original Scout profile lists some big time programs who offered.

My apologies. I looked at his Rivals profile, which I now see is inaccurate.

[skip-zip]

Who will be the starter against OSU? Nicely with the experience, Moore with the potential, D'Orazio as a dark horse?

It was recently reported on an Ole Miss premium forum that Moore will be the starter, according to a source within the Akron Athletic Department. If you remember, Moore originally attended Ole Miss over a slew of other BCS offers before leaving for his JUCO.

I only have one nagging concern.....If Nicely somehow holds the starting job, what would that tell us about Moore? Again, why would this guy accept an offer from a school like Akron to come up here and sit on the bench behind one of the worst QBs in D-1A? If that were to happen, I guess we'd have to assume that Moore failed miserably in his opportunity to impress the coaches.

[K92]

Who will be the starter against OSU? Nicely with the experience, Moore with the potential, D'Orazio as a dark horse?

It was recently reported on an Ole Miss premium forum that Moore will be the starter, according to a source within the Akron Athletic Department. If you remember, Moore originally attended Ole Miss over a slew of other BCS offers before leaving for his JUCO.

I only have one nagging concern.....If Nicely somehow holds the starting job, what would that tell us about Moore? Again, why would this guy accept an offer from a school like Akron to come up here and sit on the bench behind one of the worst QBs in D-1A? If that were to happen, I guess we'd have to assume that Moore failed miserably in his opportunity to impress the coaches.

I presume Clayton Moore was told he would be given the opportunity to earn the starting position. That's really the only assurance a coach can give. That is what Bret Bielema said he told Russell Wilson, even though he appears to be a no-brainer selection to start. I would imagine anything less than starting every game in his Zips career is going to be a disappointment for CM. I guess we just have to wait and see if any unforseen developments prevent him from achieving his goals. If I was the coach, I would want to make sure the kind of episode that put Clayton on this alternate path is behind him. Hopefully it is and he can make the most out of his second chance.

[Dave in Green]

If, as indicated in the original Scout profiles, Moore had offers from Iowa, Nebraska, Oklahoma State and Virginia Tech, then it's fair to say that he at least was a stud QB. Those four schools are perennial Top 25 teams, and do not waste time rolling the dice on QBs who aren't close to sure things.The question now is how much Moore's skills have improved since his senior year in HS, when he was good enough to get offers from those four schools. He has obviously had some personal problems. But they don't appear to have been so serious that he couldn't bounce back and perform like a Top 25 QB. He could also be a bust. But it's one heck of a great gamble for a school like UA to roll the dice on him. The upside is huge.However Moore turns out, I give a lot of credit to the Zips coaching staff for signing a QB with that much potential.

[K92]

Dave, you absolutely right, Moore's upside potential is great. Still, Akron was only one of a pair of schools willing to give him another shot. Akron isn't the only program looking for a stud QB, so that makes me believe a lot of coaches were leery of his past.Yes! Kudos to the coaching staff for bringing him in. My only point was, if I am Ianello's shoes, I want to make damn sure this kid isn't going to leave me with egg on my face. With his approval rating somewhere down around that of Congress, Rob surely doesn't need to give his critics any more ammunition.I am hoping for big things from Clayton. If he proves he is still a "stud", hopefully the coaching staff, teammates and fans rally around him.

[Roo]

Dave, you absolutely right, Moore's upside potential is great. Still, Akron was only one of a pair of schools willing to give him another shot. Akron isn't the only program looking for a stud QB, so that makes me believe a lot of coaches were leery of his past.Yes! Kudos to the coaching staff for bringing him in. My only point was, if I am Ianello's shoes, I want to make damn sure this kid isn't going to leave me with egg on my face. With his approval rating somewhere down around that of Congress, Rob surely doesn't need to give his critics any more ammunition.I am hoping for big things from Clayton. If he proves he is still a "stud", hopefully the coaching staff, teammates and fans rally around him.

I too am hoping for big things out of Clayton, because I am not impressed in the least bit with what I have saw from Nicely the last two years. Yes, he is still young and he had growing pains being thrown into the lineup but last year I saw a kid that just couldn't make the throws out of a pro style offense. If he wins the QB battle, I am expecting a very long year again in Akron and would be very disappointed in yet another big bust of a player that was once highly rated.

[johnnyzip84]

This is an excellent discussion. Skip, we are all aware of your disdain for Nicely as a quarterback. It's easy to point to his horrid passer stats from last year (and in 2010 to a lesser degree) and make the steadfast claim that he'll never be the answer for the Zips at QB. While I don't disagree that PN7's 2011 performance was nowhere near where it needs to be for UA to have success, I think the equally poor play of the offensive line needs to at least be considered in the equation. I have no real evidence to necessarily expect better O-line play in 2011, but one thing is for sure: If the big hosses up front don't improve as individuals and as a unit, it won't matter who wins the starting QB job. It's not like PN7 or CM8 are the types of QBs who will make up for deficiencies in pass protection. And it could be argued that a pro-style offense is less tolerant of poor pass protection than some other schemes.That said, I do expect CM8 to COMPETE and WIN the starting job, probably sooner rather than later. Keener, you bring up a good point about the level of the programs who offered CM8 the 2nd time around (Wyoming, Lousiana-Lafayette) as compared to his original suitors. I went back and re-read Tom Gaffney's article about his arrival at UA and two things stood out to me that I somehow missed the 1st time.1) Clayton's Louisville (Miss) HS team STILL won a Mississippi state championship the week after he was dismissed from the team just before half-time of the state semi-final. Besides the obvious insubordination concerns, perhaps the fact that the team won it without him also lowered his value in some college's eyes.2) CM8's JC coach is good friends with the same HS coach who booted him off the team! AND, his JC coach also spoke at length with his HS coach before bringing him in to QB the team to a Mississippi JC championship. This tells me that whatever the issue was between CM8 and his HS coach, it wasn't so awful or permanent to prevent his JC coach from signing him. As far as I'm concerned, this alleviates much of my concerns regarding his maturity.

[K92]

Two excellent points there JZ84. I also agree that the protection must be better in 2011, but our recievers need to do a better job of getting open. On quite a few occasions last year the o line looked worse than it really was because our receivers were blanketed. At any rate, here's to Nicely proving a lot of us naysayers wrong or to Clayton proving a lot of us hopefuls right!

[Z.I.P.]

Here's to The Lone Ranger.

[yazan07]

Whichever QB is worse is the one I want starting against OSU so that the good one isn't injured the rest of the season.

[GP1]

I also agree that the protection must be better in 2011, but our recievers need to do a better job of getting open.

First, they need to do a better job of catching the ball when it hits them in the hands.

[Dr Z]

Whichever QB is worse is the one I want starting against OSU so that the good one isn't injured the rest of the season.

This attitude stinks IMO. I hope the team proves you wrong.

[GP1]

Whichever QB is worse is the one I want starting against OSU so that the good one isn't injured the rest of the season.

This attitude stinks IMO. I hope the team proves you wrong.

He would have been much better off saying he didn't want the QB to get hurt in a meaningless game, which the vast majority of BCS vs non-BCS games are (with the exception of the pile of cash that lands in the non-BCS teams' banks).

[Dr Z]

Whichever QB is worse is the one I want starting against OSU so that the good one isn't injured the rest of the season.

This attitude stinks IMO. I hope the team proves you wrong.

He would have been much better off saying he didn't want the QB to get hurt in a meaningless game, which the vast majority of BCS vs non-BCS games are (with the exception of the pile of cash that lands in the non-BCS teams' banks).

When is the last time an Akron QB got hurt against a BCS team? Play to win. Think NC State.

[GP1]

Whichever QB is worse is the one I want starting against OSU so that the good one isn't injured the rest of the season.

This attitude stinks IMO. I hope the team proves you wrong.

He would have been much better off saying he didn't want the QB to get hurt in a meaningless game, which the vast majority of BCS vs non-BCS games are (with the exception of the pile of cash that lands in the non-BCS teams' banks).

When is the last time an Akron QB got hurt against a BCS team? Play to win.

That's not the point I'm making. My point was about college football in general. The risk of injury takes place in every game. If a player gets hurt, I want it to be in a meaningful game, not one designed to line the pockets of some BCS school while pimping out a non-BCS school.

[johnnyzip84]

Whichever QB is worse is the one I want starting against OSU so that the good one isn't injured the rest of the season.

This attitude stinks IMO. I hope the team proves you wrong.

He would have been much better off saying he didn't want the QB to get hurt in a meaningless game, which the vast majority of BCS vs non-BCS games are (with the exception of the pile of cash that lands in the non-BCS teams' banks).

When is the last time an Akron QB got hurt against a BCS team? Play to win. Think NC State.

I agree 100% with your thinking, Dr Z. But, I also enjoy trivia questions like these. This was pre-BCS, but I think Jeff Sweitzer may have gotten knocked out of a game against the Gators in Gainseville circa 1990. So it seems like it's been a while.

[zips4ever2008]

It's going to take a total team effort to beat OSU not only by the players but also the coaching staff. If there is ever a chance to beat that school down south it is now. We could have beaten them that one year but the defense was on the field majority of the time because the offense didn't do anything. Everyone has to do their job.The coaches need to prepare our guys and call the right plays. I think the Zips are going to be motivated anyway because it is OSU. Majority, if not all the guys on the team would never get a sniff from OSU to play there. That should light a fire in them.I don't know if it matters which qb gets the start. The offensive line needs to block and create holes for the running backs. The qb needs to get the ball and throw it to the WR, TE, RB. Those guys need to catch the ball and be smart about their surroundings. No fumbles and try to make plays down the field. Kickers need to do their job. Special teams needs to do their job. The defense needs to stop the OSU offense and try to force negative plays. Most importantly, the coaches need to be on their A game. Don't be conservative. Keep OSU on their toes. I say go all out for this game. It is still OSU no matter who is on the sideline and who is playing. I don't know about anyone else here, but I want to beat them badly. Continue their miserable year by kicking their butt at their stadium infront of their fans. GO ZIPS! the Buckeyes.