From newspaper reports, it seems Blake Mitchell is ready to take advantage of his playing time versus Vandy on Saturday. http://www.thestate.com/gamecocks/story/203942.html
For more than one reason, it would be a very good development if Blake plays like he did to close out the 2006 season.
One reason is that SC could use the points. Chris Smelley has done as well as he could be expected to do, but he still misses reads and he does not know the offense as well as Blake.
Many Gamecock fans get that sick feeling in the gut when Smelley gets into one of the three-and-out stretches. Also: it's not good for the defense to lose faith in the offense's ability to sustain a drive, and that leads to a near panic.
If a confident and capable Blake is on hand to spell Smelley, I think some of the pressure is lessened.
And if Blake were stake his claim and come back as the starter because he outplayed Smelley, that makes the team so much stronger and better.
As for Smelley, the experience he has gotten already is INVALUABLE, even if he does not play much more this year.
Another reason to pull for Blake: He has been around for some great wins. Tenn. and Fla. 2005. He was terrible versus Clemson, but recovered and walked off the Tigers' field with a smile while Clemson's can't-miss blue chip athletes buried their faces and cried. And what about the Liberty Bowl, that was good times.
And the idea that a seat on the bench makes Blake a better player is not foreign. I remember the 2005 back-and-forth Vandy game, in which Blake was relieved by Syvelle Newton, only to come back a drive for the win after Syvelle was hurt. Even in the loss to Arkansas 2006, Blake was amazing.
If Blake leaves without at least getting another shot at QB, it would be a bit sad. It would be better for him to leave on a positive note.
All that said: has Blake let us down at times?...Yes. But maybe he can make us forget that.
Of course, Blake may get his shot, stumble...and that will be the end of it. But it's not a bad idea to hope he plays so well, he retains the job.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
2 comments:
Our depth at QB this year is much better than most of the other top 10 teams. Ky would drop off the chart without Woodsen as would BC without Ryan. I'm not sure about some of the others but I doubt they have a back-up thats equal to their starter as we do. I was happy when Smelley was made the starter simply because hes a Freshman and we have him for 3 more years. But we still have goals to accomplish this year and having both QBs ready to go is certainly a good thing. This team is different than any Gamecock team I remember in that major injuries (Jasper Brinkley, Nathan Pepper etc) haven't caused us much problem. It's a great time to be a Gamecock!
The S. Fla. QB (Goethe?) is a big part of that team, too.
At Tenn., if Ainge goes down, I think they're in trouble. Same with Tebow and Fla.
Not sure about Clemson, because the verdict is still out on Harper because of their schedule. But if I had to guess, they'd be even worse w/o Harper.
And I agree Book about the other injutries at SC. I remember the 94 year when David Turnipseed went down...Brad would have lost to Vandy that year except for a bad call in our favor (thanks SEC.)
Not to mention the loss of Todd Ellis (enter: Dickie DeMasi) and phill petty ("the fade" game notwithstanding.)
Post a Comment