Rumors swirling about QB competition

[JeffB4UT]

Our QB DOES NEED TO WIN GAMES! A punt is a win???? Is that you Phil?

If we have just an avg QB we're 3-0 right now, and just knocked off one of our biggest rivals and the defending National Champions. With just an average QB, we're likely playing in Atlanta at the end of the season. Our offense IS really good. We just need an average QB that can make your basic down field throws to the receivers. The OL, Running Backs, and Monte Kiffin's "D" will take care of the rest. An avg QB and we have a 9-3 season.

Obviously, I agree that QB is an issue, but don't think that is the only issue. In the games against UCLA and UF, and all of last year, there typically is no separation between our WR and the secondary. It is something I noticed last year and other than WKU it is the same as this year. When JC throws an INT, what I see is that the WR isn't necessarily open. Personally, I think JONES and MOORE are not great WR and Warren really isn't either. So, I am not convinced we would be in ATL if we had better QB play. Anyone could get open against WKU and to speak of it, it was mainly young guys getting open. No Jones or Moore and Warren only caught 3 balls that day.

 

[TitanVol82]

I think stephens should be allowed two int's. Heck maybe he's ready to play. Snead came around for Ole Miss. Right now he's 4 for 4. What's it going to hurt to let him play all of the 2nd half against Ohio. Would love to see one deep ball in my lifetime with this group.

I think Kiffin should let Stephens get some meaningful snaps in against Ohio.

Let Crompton start...if he falters once again, then you replace him in-game and have a new starter with Nick. If he plays well, the Vols will likely be up 20+ at half and Stephens should play the 2nd half to gain experience if JC sucks against Auburn or Georgia.

 

[rekinhavoc]

Crompton has severely curtailed the play calling . Time to open it up against Ohio and I'd bet we may see a live game competition . Give each of them the ball and see where it goes.

 

[Brave Volunteer]

If we have just an avg QB we're 3-0 right now, and just knocked off one of our biggest rivals and the defending National Champions. With just an average QB, we're likely playing in Atlanta at the end of the season.

 

[JeffB4UT]

I also do realize that Jones didn't play at WKU and Moore only played a few snaps. Actually validates my point. Neither of them have gotten open much in the 2 games they have played. And according to CLK, when Jones did get open and JC overthrew him for the INT against UCLA, it was the fault of Jones.

 

[GreatWhiteNorth]

There is going to come a point in time where if Crompton continues to play poorly, this team is going to quit on him. I almost saw that happen in the Florida game. Put Stephens in and see what he can do. He needs the experience if he at all is being considered as a starter for next season. I don't have anything personal against Crompton, and I wanted badly for him to do well this year, but he's had his chance.

 

[cwil74`]

So, he can stare down all his receivers if he gets the ball out on time? I'm not sure that will work.

Watch the games. He can stare down receivers all day if he just hits them when they're open. His interceptions are because he's late with the ball.

 

[Arlivol]

I actually called this!! I told my Dad last week before the Florida game that I figured what Kiffin would do is go ahead and start Jonathan in Gainesville. If things didn't work out, we'd probably see Stephens against Ohio. Kiffin would NOT throw Stephens to the wolves like that and risk destroying his confidence by letting him go down to the swamp and get pasted. This way, he can start at home against an inferior opponent and Kiffin can start building his confidence.

I agree with you on this one. CLK is several steps ahead of us in his thinking. From the beginning of the season, Start with JC and give him a shot. If he fails. We might get a few looks from the top QB prospects. Lock in one of the top QB prospects and then make a move if JC is not performing. Now, (my opinion) make the move.

 

[rmsmith]

No doubt. It CANNOT get any worse!

It can always get worse.
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[LawVol13]

Watch the games. He can stare down receivers all day if he just hits them when they're open. His interceptions are because he's late with the ball.

He was definitely late with the pass to GJ that led to the interception, but I think his main problem is staring down a receiver and being completely unable to go to a secondary receiver. Just a difference of opinion. Wasn't trying to bash you.

 

[rekinhavoc]

I get the feeling that Crompton is a pet project. I agree eventually the team will quit on him . I have not seen or heard him take any responsibility for the offensive woes. I also don't think it is fair to the guys playing their guts out on D. Stephens may not be better but is he a better leader?

 

[Oldblood]

So it all boils down to someone somewhere said Stephens may/probably will play some this week. That's not news. We'll be up by 3-4 TD's on Ohio at some point and he'll get in. The news would be if he were starting.

 

[VolsFanRJ]

I think you have to go with Stephens at this point. He can't be worse. He definitely seems to work better under pressure than Crompton. Crompton might be the better practice QB, but last year Stephens was the better game QB. Thing is, if he plays both of them this week an even amount of time, Crompton might still look better. Crompton does fine when he is not pressured, and I am not sure if he will be pressured much this week. But, then he gets in a game where he is pressured, he falls apart. I think they need to just go with Stephens, stick with him and have him ready for next year. I can't see why they wouldn't at this point.

 

[VolinDawgland]

Couple pretty reliable posters on the other board. It also makes logical sense. If Kiffin wants to keep the O-line, RBs, and WRs on board, he needs to at least show them that he's trying to give them a chance to be successful.

Ummm...the WRs don't really have much room to complain. The o-line sucked against UCLA but played much better against UF...so they are not perfect either. Regardless who's QB this year, these other units will have to pick up the slack as we obviously don't have a game changer at QB on our roster...well some might argue that JC is a game changer for the other team.

I'm kind of warm to putting some legs behind center, but I just don't think that's the offense Kiffin wants to show and since we haven't focused on it probably wouldn't be a lot better in that offense either.

 

[duckman398686]

The fact of the matter is he will be the QB next year and we need to get him game experience in this system.

i wouldn't go that far. bray has a really good shot at seeing the field early next year IMO

if fulmer could do it with schaffer and ainge, then it's not that far-fetched so say that kiffin would do the same thing with bray as a freshman

 

[gwgvol]

Any word as to how NS has looked in practice over the last couple of weeks? I hope he has not gone backwards since the decision was made to go to JC. I wonder if his work ethic is as goods as JC's especially in the film room. I don't know how that works for non-starting QB's. NS did seem to be more at ease when he was on the field last year. Maybe the results were not all that great but it probably was no worse than JC. I thought JC did some decent stuff against FLA. He did make 3 or 4 bad plays that cost us. He did a decent job with the dink throws but just about anybody could do that, i suppose. I think that the UCLA and FLA defenses were pretty dang good. Based on what I have seen by the other opponents out there, I would expect only 1 or 2 more defensive tests of that caliber (constant pressure and screwing with their coverages). If CLK is not willing to open up his offense with JC then I would agree that it is time to move on and let someone else get the valuable experience. I don't think we get any more moral victories this year regardless of the score or opponent. CLK has the team believing they can and should win every game. I buy it. GO WIN TEAM.

 

[csheaton]

I just really think Stephens can come in and do a decent job for us. His completion percentage wasn't great last year but he was learning a new and very complicated offense. Just to look at his stats as a starter from 2008...

No. Ill- 10-17 156yds 1 TD 0 INT
Georgia- 13-30 208yds 2 TD 0 INT
Miss St- 10-20 136yds 0 TD 0 INT
Alabama- 16-28 137yds 1 TD 0 INT

USC- 10-24 134yds 0 TD 1 INT
....This was a mistake to pull him. The kid had played 4 games in a new offense and had thrown 4 TD's and zero INT's up to this point. He throws one INT against USC and gets pulled? WTF is that? He came back in later in the game for Crompton and didn't play that well but at least he didn't make anymore mistakes either. He was treated unfair and put on too short of a leash, so of course it probably affected his confidence the next game against Wyoming he thre 2 INTs. But hell the whole team was lost during that week when Fulmer was fired. Bottom line I liked NS 10x more than Crompton, and at least he could stretch the field some having 4 plays of 40+ yards in 2008.

 

[VolsFanRJ]

Watch the games. He can stare down receivers all day if he just hits them when they're open. His interceptions are because he's late with the ball.

He was definitely late Saturday throwing the ball to G. Jones in the end zone. Jones was open for 2-3 seconds before he actually tried to make the pass. When Crompton did finally throw it to him, he threw it out of the end zone and Jones couldn't keep his feet in.

 

[VolinDawgland]

I think you have to go with Stephens at this point. He can't be worse. He definitely seems to work better under pressure than Crompton. Crompton might be the better practice QB, but last year Stephens was the better game QB. Thing is, if he plays both of them this week an even amount of time, Crompton might still look better. Crompton does fine when he is not pressured, and I am not sure if he will be pressured much this week. But, then he gets in a game where he is pressured, he falls apart. I think they need to just go with Stephens, stick with him and have him ready for next year. I can't see why they wouldn't at this point.

Really...I seem to recall a pick six against USCe where he lost his composure and a couple of picks including another pick six against mighty Wyoming.

Don't confuse your affection for the back-up QB with objective analysis of whether the back-up QB is actually an improvement.

If he really beats JC in practice then so be it, but I'm not for change for changes sake...yet.

 

[whall12]

We can not win with Jonathan Crompton playing quarterback. That is the plain and simple fact. I have not seen a worse quarterback at the D-1 level in my entire life. We used maybe 10% of the offense saturday because of Crompton's inability to throw the ball 10 yards downfield. Winning in the SEC requires a quarterback who can at least keep defenses somewhat modest. With Crompton in, every team we play will put eight in the box, making it very difficult for us to move the ball. I am not saying that Stephens is any better, but you have to at least give him a shot. Nothing, and I mean absolutely nothing can be any worse than Jonathan Crompton playing quarterback. Kiffin realizes this, and I guarantee you Stephens gets his chance Saturday.

 

[duckman398686]

Let Crompton start...if he falters once again, then you replace him in-game and have a new starter with Nick. If he plays well, the Vols will likely be up 20+ at half and Stephens should play the 2nd half to gain experience if JC sucks against Auburn or Georgia.

also, if you let crompton start then you're setting yourself up for false hope again. if he can light up wku with 5tds, then it's likely that he can do well against ohio too. then because of that good game, we continue to let him start the next 2 or 3 games against sec opponents he can't win against.

it's a vicious cycle.

 

[TitanVol82]

I think you have to go with Stephens at this point. He can't be worse. He definitely seems to work better under pressure than Crompton. Crompton might be the better practice QB, but last year Stephens was the better game QB. Thing is, if he plays both of them this week an even amount of time, Crompton might still look better. Crompton does fine when he is not pressured, and I am not sure if he will be pressured much this week. But, then he gets in a game where he is pressured, he falls apart. I think they need to just go with Stephens, stick with him and have him ready for next year. I can't see why they wouldn't at this point.

If Crompton looks better, than the right guy is playing right now.

 

[VolinDawgland]

He was definitely late Saturday throwing the ball to G. Jones in the end zone. Jones was open for 2-3 seconds before he actually tried to make the pass. When Crompton did finally throw it to him, he threw it out of the end zone and Jones couldn't keep his feet in.

Oh good grief...I'm not a JC fan, but that one was clearly on Jones losing awareness of where he was. That was a good throw by Crompton and Jones didn't create the angle until he came back to the ball. Unfortunately he drifted out instead of cutting sharply back to the ball.

Don't make sh*t up out of thin air...makes Vols fans look like football idiots.

 

[Mason72]

He was definitely late Saturday throwing the ball to G. Jones in the end zone. Jones was open for 2-3 seconds before he actually tried to make the pass. When Crompton did finally throw it to him, he threw it out of the end zone and Jones couldn't keep his feet in.

actually Jones ran out of the end zone and back into the field of play before the pass was thrown. mental lapse on his part. Jones should have one heck of a season but so far he has made a few mental mistakes that have not looked good on his part.

I say put stephens in.. It cant be worse than JC. Sorry I really dont have a problem with the picks JC threw the other day.. Just the fact that he gets tunnel vision when he needs to connect downfield.

 

[rekinhavoc]

Stephens has better wheels and is more apt to take off and try to pick up a first down .
Really disturbed by Crompton last play of the Ucla game and throwing it to the gator sideline which should have been intentional grounding.