A Tale of Two Quinns

[dukesteer]

Gerry Hamilton of OTF laid out for me this morning what I have been trying to process, and understand.

If the defense sits back in zone, perhaps two high, doesn’t disguise coverages much and doesn’t pressure, Quinn can be lethal with the short and mid range passes. But when the defense gets creative and has the athletes, when they pressure and disguise, Quinn has proven to be a liability. The book is out on Quinn.

We saw the former strategy from Vanderbilt yesterday in the first half, and Quinn hit 17 straight short and medium range passes. They changed their defense in the second half, and with just mediocre athletes on the other side, Quinn was average at best. Put elite athletes on the field like Georgia, TAM and a few others, and you are probably going to get an 11 sack performance over two games, or close.

Some choose to place much of the blame on the OL. Sure, they deserve some. And to his credit, Sark attempts to deflect criticism away from his quarterback.

True, the OL may not be playing at an elite level and they are making mistakes, but the quarterback has to help them. If he is unable to move around the pocket, get out of trouble and step up when he needs to, or take off, the outcome is not going to be good.

A sitting duck QB is an OLs worst nightmare, and with QE, that’s what we have.

Where am I going with us? If it was my decision to make, I would seriously consider moving to Arch after the bye week. Could he struggle? Absolutely. Could the offense potentially take a step back. Perhaps. But to me, it might be a risk worth taking given the ultimate goal this season. Arch brings a skill set that Ewers simply does not possess. A skill set that we are going to need to reach the highest heights.

Can Quinn get us into the playoffs? I think so. Can Quinn take us to National Championship? Without a Herculean effort by the OL, and brilliant play-calling and scheming by Sark, I don’t believe there’s much of a chance.

It was James Street and his masterful manipulation of the wishbone that took us to an NC in 1969. A transcendent Vince Young rose above, in 2005. And a versatile leader, Colt, took us to the precipice in 2009 before the injury. Each had a diverse skill set, and all three had leadership skills off the charts. If Quinn is a leader, he might be the quietest one I’ve ever seen.

I think it might be time for a change…if we believe that we have a reasonable shot at getting to the top of the mountain, this year.

 

[guy4321]

The biggest problem is the O line penalties. Clean that up, and we get 14-20 more points vs Vandy. Manning can't prevent the O line from holding.

 

[Horns11]

Much like predictable OC's have a script that can be broken down by good opponents, I think we saw that Arch kind of has that same progression on each play. No one doubts his arm or physical skill, but he seems to immediately lock in on whatever the call was and not read what the defense is doing.

In a sick sort of way, I think QE is good at "fake it til you make it" in terms of not reading the defense correctly. He can make something happen even if he didn't see a safety shift into a zone on the field where he was planning to throw. This obviously didn't work well against UGA because they have superior athletes and coaching than every other team we'll face. When he buys time, he's as good as any other immobile QB in the nation. Not the finest compliment, but better than our David Ash years for sure.

I think if we see a bunch of "same old same old" in the first half against UF, and there's zero semblance of the play that QE showed in his good games, then we can alternate but maybe not make a full switch. UF is actually a good case study for what a team can do with alternating QBs, although Lagway has way more VY in him than either QE or Arch.

 

[BornOrange0855]

Oh, man, you've opened a can of worms now. You are going to get yelled at by the Kool Aid drinkers on this site. How dare you have an opinion that doesn't support every UT athlete no matter what? Get ready for the bloodshed. And I can't believe you mentioned aggy in the same breath as Georgia. That's total sacrilege in these parts!

 

[nashhorn]

Manning can't prevent the O line from holding.

Hasn’t thought about it in terms like this but scrambling around definitely increases the opportunity of holding. It certainly happens often when a mobile qb keeps the play alive longer than is comfortable for the OL. Don’t read this wrong, I’m as anxious as anyone to see Arch when it’s his time I am just placing faith in Sark to make that decision.
Btw, anyone else getting the fear that QE may want to stay for another year if things do not play out for him this year? Now that would be a genuine dilemma.

 

[mchammer]

Hasn’t thought about it in terms like this but scrambling around definitely increases the opportunity of holding. It certainly happens often when a mobile qb keeps the play alive longer than is comfortable for the OL. Don’t read this wrong, I’m as anxious as anyone to see Arch when it’s his time I am just placing faith in Sark to make that decision.
Btw, anyone else getting the fear that QE may want to stay for another year if things do not play out for him this year? Now that would be a genuine dilemma.

Quinn is gone. He’s not going to learn anything by staying another year.

 

[nashhorn]

He’s not going to learn anything by staying another year.

Hummm, that’s either a harsh criticism or a Sark indictment I’d say.

 

[mchammer]

Hummm, that’s either a harsh criticism or a Sark indictment I’d say.

Neither - Not going to learn anything about playing in the NFL that the NFL can’t teach you.

 

[nashhorn]

True, but $$$ matter and a better draft position might, at least in his mind, may be at stake.

 

[mchammer]

True, but $$$ matter and a better draft position might, at least in his mind, may be at stake.

Or he takes the risk that he is never drafted a year later. Bird in hand vs 2 in the bush.

 

[Horns11]

Oh he's gone. There was distinct "chatter" after the UGA game about the merits of him shutting it down for the season to prep for the draft. I think if we lose another before the A&M game, we might hear stories about how his injuries are really worse than we thought.

 

[LHABSOB]

No way he’s staying another year but I’m the same guy who said to the fans around me at halftime of Georgia that there was no way Quinn was coming back for 2nd half.

I thought this was an interesting stat. I don’t know if we blame Quinn or Sark but this isn’t a winning formula.

 

[giveemhell]

Georgia showed us we don't have the horses to win a national championship this year, so it really doesn't matter if it's QE or Manning in the saddle (and each has his faults). I'm just going to enjoy the season for what it is and consider it a success if we make the playoffs. Next year we'll be even better.

 

[Walking Boss]

No way he’s staying another year but I’m the same guy who said to the fans around me at halftime of Georgia that there was no way Quinn was coming back for 2nd half.

I thought this was an interesting stat. I don’t know if we blame Quinn or Sark but this isn’t a winning formula.

I would guess it is a little of both, as Ewers simply does not throw a good deep ball. He is much better in the 5-15 yard range. That statistic is also impacted by the numerous swing wr screens at or behind the line and the fact that the check downs always seem to be to the outside to a running back at the line or 1-2 yards past it. I personally would like to see more running back routes like the one that Blue ran on the td against Georgia.

 

[Detective Shilala]

The Sark+Quinn combo has deinifitely been a Jeckyl and Hyde act.


-Coach who is not great at game day adjustments
+ a QB who is not a. great improviser
= not so great results when the other team has right gameplan and the athletes to execute it. .

We saw this last season as well. And its more of the same from the 2022 season, we just have better athletes now so we eke out some wins that would have been sure losses in 2022.

I do think Manning can improvise and will mask some of Sark's weaknesses. Some day. As a true freshman? Maybe, maybe not.

At any rate, I trust Sark to roll with the best Qb to give us the best chance at this time.

 

[Vol Horn 4 Life]

No way he’s staying another year but I’m the same guy who said to the fans around me at halftime of Georgia that there was no way Quinn was coming back for 2nd half.

I thought this was an interesting stat. I don’t know if we blame Quinn or Sark but this isn’t a winning formula.

If Quinn is here next year, there's no way Manning stays.

That short pass stat shouldn't be surprising to anyone. Quinn has a hard time finding down field receivers and when he does he frequently is off target.