I have been in the Start Mauk camp all year long. I do my best to post with rationality, leaving emotions and personal opinions out, unless stated.
I think we could all agree he played his best football of the year in the first half. I felt vindicated, thinking they were going to be a different team in conference play. However, the second half was a train wreck, as he fell back into the same mistakes: missed throws and bad decision making. Brutal to watch. Pinkel has to be tearing his hair out.
I have maintained all along that I think Lock has the better arm of the two, but Mauk is the better QB because of his running ability and simply his experience. Freshman QB's make a lot of mistakes, and they are frustrating to watch. Keep in mind that Lock drove us down in the second quarter, but he also blew all of his good work taking the sack, thereby knocking us out of field goal range. It is my opinion that you can expect that kind of volatility with a freshman QB.
I'm an optimist. I would give Matty one more game to play better (not just win the game). Further, I would not bench him under any circumstance. It's his game. It is my opinion that it is tough to come up with two game plans for two QB's in one week. If Mauk continues to underperform, then Lock starts against Florida.
I know that a lot of you have lost your patience, and I understand that. But I don't think that a Freshman QB is going to deliver instant results and we will be dealing with growing pains for the rest of the season. The seniors on the team deserve the best QB on the field, whomever that may be.
I often wonder if we would be as critical of Mauk if we didn't have a viable back up. No way to know, but it's an interesting question.
I think we could all agree he played his best football of the year in the first half. I felt vindicated, thinking they were going to be a different team in conference play. However, the second half was a train wreck, as he fell back into the same mistakes: missed throws and bad decision making. Brutal to watch. Pinkel has to be tearing his hair out.
I have maintained all along that I think Lock has the better arm of the two, but Mauk is the better QB because of his running ability and simply his experience. Freshman QB's make a lot of mistakes, and they are frustrating to watch. Keep in mind that Lock drove us down in the second quarter, but he also blew all of his good work taking the sack, thereby knocking us out of field goal range. It is my opinion that you can expect that kind of volatility with a freshman QB.
I'm an optimist. I would give Matty one more game to play better (not just win the game). Further, I would not bench him under any circumstance. It's his game. It is my opinion that it is tough to come up with two game plans for two QB's in one week. If Mauk continues to underperform, then Lock starts against Florida.
I know that a lot of you have lost your patience, and I understand that. But I don't think that a Freshman QB is going to deliver instant results and we will be dealing with growing pains for the rest of the season. The seniors on the team deserve the best QB on the field, whomever that may be.
I often wonder if we would be as critical of Mauk if we didn't have a viable back up. No way to know, but it's an interesting question.
