Stephen McGee will be Texas A&M's starting quarterback for the season opener against Arkansas State after winning what first-year coach Mike Sherman called "a heck of a race" with sophomore Jerrod Johnson and redshirt freshman Ryan Tannehill.
Sherman said McGee's consistency in practice, not his two years of experience as the Aggies starter, was the determining factor. McGee hadn't thrown an interception in fall camp until Jordan Peterson picked off a tipped pass during Thursday morning's practice.
Sherman informed his quarterbacks of the decision Wednesday night but was clear that the competition will continue throughout the season.
"In explaining it to Stephen, I said, ‘You have two guys behind you who want your job, and if we struggle at times during the season, we may go in that direction. So it’s your job for today and you’ve just got to keep holding onto it becaue we’ll have a competitive position where we’ll be contantly evaluating.'" Sherman said. "Nothing’s just set in stone other than the fact that he’s the starter in the first ballgame right now."
Sherman said he was pleased with all of his backups. He noted Johnson's considerable progress the past two weeks, especially with his drops and his ability to stand in the pocket.
"I’m sure they were disappointed to some degree, but at the same time they respect Stephen and what Stephen’s done," he said. "To beat Stephen out they kind of had to really have a knockout punch because Stephen has had the experience in the game, and I didn’t feel like that was delivered. I thought they played even at times."
For the complete story, see Friday's print edition of the Star-Telegram.
-- Lori Dann
Lori - you should do a blog post on ratemycoaches.com - people love talking about it.
Posted by: MJ Hunter | August 14, 2008 at 03:35 PM
Lori- you should do a blog post on ratemycoaches.com - people love to talk about it.
Posted by: MJ Hunter | August 14, 2008 at 03:36 PM