BillySee58

Did you watch the games last year? Our play calling was very predictable and restricted due to the fact that the coaches didn't trust DT enough to open up the playbook. Just because DT was the starter doesn't mean they trusted him, they just trusted Osborn even less and were pretty set on redshirting Mcnulty. Judging by how few pass plays we called and how conservative our playcalling was, I'd say our coaches who are "paid to know" consider DT a below average D1 qb whether they'd ever state it or not. Also, it's pretty obvious that other teams' coaches who are "paid to know" think that DT is a below average D1 qb based on the 8 and 9 man fronts that we saw all year. You don't run cover 0 against an adequate qb.

I completely agree. This goes back to our "they don't trust DT" argument. Also feel that Byrd wasted some good blocking last year, even against heavy fronts, because he runs with his head down and doesn't look for the holes. Byrd does appear to have improved in that regard, but Jimmerson is just too electric to not be our feature back if he's healthy. Jim Jim is a freak of nature. Last year he played at about 5'8 and 219 lbs. To be as agile and shifty as he was at that weight was special and fun to watch. If we are going to be as run heavy in the first quarter we should give the ball to someone who can make something happen.

Sorry to bring the qb debate in this thread, but with Thompson we always start sooooo slow. We have to get off to better starts, because it sounds like Idaho might be able to. Another reason why I think we should start Jimmerson over Byrd. The backfield of Thompson and Byrd to start the game just doesn't have any firepower.

We play 12 games buddy.

Much like everyone else has said, there is much more to success as a qb besides interception rates. Manipulate the stats anyway you want, teams don't respect DT as a qb and our offense was no good. Also, as someone who grew up in Tennessee and a long time Vol fan, Tennessee lost games this year by scores of 44-51, 35-38, and 48-51. You can't blame those losses on Tyler Bray and that offense. Tennessee's record you could legitimately blame on the defense, since their offense scored enough points to win a football game. Look at our scores, and in no loss do you look at our point total and say "wow, we should win a game if we score that much." The most we scored was 34 against TSU and 30 against LaLa was the most we had against an FBS team. Heaven forbid we can actually hang with a team in a shoot out. With DT as our qb, if a team scores 30 points that game is over.

I know. Talk about a dual-threat.

I agree that Mac wants to shove the ball down team's throats, but unless you run the veer (triple-option) offense 70% runs on first down is more than you want. Mac wants to run the ball, but he's forces to run it even more than he would wish. I think Coach Mac went into that WKU game treating it like a bowl game. I agree that in reality we had nothing to lose, but Mac did not trust to rest the fate of the game in DT's ability. I don't know if Berglund, Little Mac, or Dajon Williams will add more balance to our offense, but I just don't see the coaches all of a sudden giving DT much more freedom. They just don't trust him when it matters, and for good reason in my opinion.

We see your point, but couldn't the fact that he needs to win now lean him more towards starting Berglund? In the WKU game he and Chico couldn't trust DT to throw the ball. Many of our fans are hard to forgive DT, but you have to wonder if Mac trusts DT anymore than he did last year. He would've elected to throw on first down more often if he trusted his quarterback. Also, don't forget that DT did have 14 interceptions. I know people like to blame them on the receivers, but that's a lot. I wouldn't be surprised if Mac doesn't put up with that this year, because as you said it is a critical year. It's very hard to win when the opposing defensive coordinator and your own coaching staff don't respect the quarterback's passing ability or his running ability.

BB on this thread stands for Brock Berglund as far as I'm concerned.

He is a redshirt senior right now. He got the redshirt back for the season that he broke his leg (hardship/medical redshirt).

I think DT has done plenty to lose his job during the games last season, but I don't see the coaches unseating him solely based on his performance this spring.

For these reasons I believe we will see both Berglund and DT get their respective chances to run the offense in game 1 against Idaho as long as they are both healthy. They have a lot invested in Berglund, as his success will most likely be tied to coach Mccarney being retained. DT is the safe choice, but we also saw how hesitant the coaches were to calling passing plays last year, particularly in that wku loss. DT hasn't really done anything to lose the job this spring, so he will most likely start that Idaho game. However, Mccarney and Chico don't trust DT, so he will have a much shorter leash this year.

See, the people who would rather see Berglund over DT have nothing personal against him as a person. He is still a member of our team and we wish only the best for him, but you're making this argument about who is the best fit for us at quarterback personal to Berglund.

I would say brock is more like a redshirt freshman, because last year with us was basically his redshirt season. Redshirt freshman do go through growing pains, but the important thing is that the season is 12 games long and Berglund has that time to learn through experience and improve. DT has not improved over his time as our starter. We aren't asking Berglund to have a first year like a Johnny Manziel, Mariota, Colt McCoy, or Sam Bradford. Just asking for our most talented qb, who we changed the offense to fit his skill set, to improve progressively and lead our offense to more than 20.9 points per game (105th in the country).

We aren't talking about the team as a whole, we are talking about the unit that DT leads out on the field; the offense. They were 105th in the nation in scoring last year at 20.9 points a game. That will not cut it this year.

The offense is set up well with a good line that was our strength last year mostly intact, good looking receiving core with a stud freshman coming in in the fall (Kidsy), and another loaded stable of backs. If DT is the qb and doesn't succeed this year I won't be able to stand for anymore excuses. That being said, same with Berglund if he is our qb.

Yup. Just doesn't command respect, both from our coaches calling the plays and the opposing defensive coordinators. Mcnulty did look good, but our qb will be asked to handle the ball and his awareness and ball protection were subpar to say the least. Much better awareness from Berglund, although he held onto the ball too long a play or two. Receivers just weren't open, but he has to learn to throw the ball to scrappy in the stands rather than get blindsided. Berglund has the strongest arm, tightest spiral (which does matter), most quick/compact release and most athletic. Mcnulty was probably the most consistent this spring but doesn't have the natural talent of BB. And DT has the most experience. Expect to see DT and BB first half against Idaho. Also, skip Caldwell just seems to get open. Those guys do damage when they're on the field

Hey, you leave Zelda out of this!

This. He practiced one semester with Kansas spring 2011, when he should've been a second semester high school senior, and was doing good enough where he was expected to not redshirt his freshman year and either be Jordan Webb's backup or start. Then the legal trouble came in, followed by Gill getting fired. People are acting like he is a bust already. He will get action the first half of the game against Idaho as long as he is healthy.

If Skivdrew played for Benford he'd go home crying to mommy in an hour. I've played for some mean coaches, but Benford is excessive, like Rice, and creates a terrible practice atmosphere. My gf has a yoga class in the pit so I'd go early with her and see him chew out the guys, Niko in particular, for stupid reasons.

Can someone release a Mike Rice type video of Benford? Honestly though, Benford is harsh verbally like Rice was to his players in practices. You have to be tough on your players, but Benford has been known to cross the line. Another big reason why his players don't want to play for him.

That's just the way Bergland plays. Even last year during scout team he would play as such.

He's having a good spring, but Vito is making it sound like we won't be able to recognize the guy this year. Maybe he has improved, but I just don't know how we can win with a qb that our coaches don't have confidence in.

It's okay, the sky may very well fall on apogee if we lose that game.

People forget that these guys will report for fall camp about 2 months before we play Idaho. We only have one more week left of spring football, but the qb competition will not be shut down. I've said this before, but if DT is the starter don't be surprised to see he and Berglund both get chances to lead the offense against Idaho in the first half. These coaches have too much invested in Berglund and too little confidence in DT (see last year) to anoint him the undisputed starter. Also, Berglund has looked good this spring when he was healthy. Who's to say he'll be fully healthy by fall, but the point is the coaches aren't going to label him a bust based on this spring. Maybe DT starts, but he will have a much shorter leash this year than last year.