Change of address
Same state, fresh start for ex-Irish QB LoVecchio
Posted: Thursday April 17, 2003 4:15 PM
Updated: Friday April 18, 2003 12:24 PM
These days, it takes a scorecard to keep track of some college quarterbacks' whereabouts.
Brock Berlin? The former prized Gator recruit is now a Hurricane.
Brandon Hance? The one-time Purdue starter now vies for USC's job.
"We become more and more like a professional franchise every day," said Indiana coach Gerry DiNardo. "Students transferring is no different than a trade in the NFL."
The "trade" that sent former Notre Dame QB Matt LoVecchio to DiNardo's Hoosiers was as fortuitous as it was improbable.
Three years after becoming Notre Dame's first freshman starter in nine years, leading the Irish on a seven-game win streak and a trip to the Fiesta Bowl, LoVecchio has landed in a polar opposite football environment despite never leaving the state.
But he's also somewhere that needs him.
| Ask Stewart |
|---|
SI.com's Stewart Mandel will soon begin a College Football Mailbag.
To submit a question for Stewart to answer, Click here. |
| |
| |
The New Jersey native left South Bend last May after it became apparent that new Irish coach Tryone Willingham favored LoVecchio's classmate Carlyle Holiday to lead his West Coast offense. Rather than return to his East Coast roots, though, or perhaps seek out an system more like Bob Davie's option attack, LoVecchio raised a lot of eyebrows by choosing IU, which had just hired its West Coast offensive guru, former UCLA and Cal coordinator Al Borges.
But there's no denying the opportunity.
In Bloomington, he arrived at a program that had just lost four-year record-setter Antwaan Randle El, and which must now replace both of last season's starters, Tommy Jones and Gibran Hamdan. LoVecchio's only competition this spring is redshirt freshman Graeme McFarland, and there's little question who's winning the race.
"He's very typical of a third-year player in his demeanor and way he carries himself as a quarterback," said DiNardo. "He's learning it at a faster pace than you'd expect a true freshman to."
So far, LoVecchio's arm strength has been better than advertised and his mobility gives the Hoosiers a dimension they lacked last season when Hamdan and Jones helped combine for a school-record 3,020 passing yards but finished with negative rushing yardage.
It's not like LoVecchio will be running the option again, but he might be able to get out of the pocket -- considering the state of IU's depleted offensive line, he'll need to -- and create something out of nothing.
"I followed him in high school and I always felt like he was the kind of quarterback who could obviously throw the football, but could also run and get out of trouble," said DiNardo. "I thought he was the perfect fit for the Syracuse package [that Notre Dame ran]. We do some movement passes. We will use the run game depending on how well the quarterback can move. I think nowadays in any offense, you have to have a quarterback that can move a little bit."
LoVecchio's sole drawback, it would seem, is the fact that he's only one player -- and Indiana needs a lot more than that. Second-year coach DiNardo inherited a program that had as few as 38 scholarship players available last season out of an allowable 85. That number will rise to nearly 70 by fall, but probably not enough to improve substantially from last year's 3-9 campaign.
Compared to his new team, which hasn't been to a bowl game in a decade, LoVecchio is spoiled. He has already started in one, and it was a BCS game.
"I look back at that experience as a positive thing, a thing that no one will ever be able to take away from me," said LoVecchio, who has never elaborated about his motives for transferring beyond "personal reasons." "At the same time, I'm looking forward to the future and hopefully those kind of things can happen again."
Atypical third-string quarterback
New Michigan State coach John L. Smith insists Jeff Smoker isn't yet reinstated and isn't allowed to compete for the starting job this spring. But the quarterback has been going through practices with his teammates, and it's hard to believe he won't achieve both by fall.
Smoker, whose substance-abuse problem last fall coincided with the Spartans' on-field implosion, isn't taking as many snaps as junior Damon Dowdell, Smoker's replacement last season, and redshirt freshman Drew Stanton, but he's made the most of his opportunities. He's gone 14-of-21 for 155 yards and led several touchdown drives in MSU's past two scrimmages.
Smoker has not spoken publicly about his ordeal, which required in-patient treatment, since November, but Smith said last month that the senior has been doing everything right.
"He does things that you can't believe. He's up every morning at 5 o'clock, and has been doing that ever since I got to campus. He's working out on the weekends. He didn't go anywhere for spring break. He's making sure he's in town and doing the right things."
This Vick not No. 1
While the Michael Vick era in Atlanta officially began last fall, the Marcus Vick era may be on hold indefinitely in Blacksburg, Va.
Since signing with his brother's former team in 2002, many Hokies followers assumed Marcus would follow the same collegiate path as Michael: Redshirt for one season, then immediately assume the reins.
But while Vick sat last season, sophomore Bryan Randall performed more than admirably, finishing 10th nationally in pass efficiency and twice running for over 120 yards, including the season-finale against Miami. And he's followed it up with one impressive outing after another this spring, going 18-of-24 for 210 yards and two touchdowns in Tech's last scrimmage, 11-of-18 for 187 yards and three TDs before that.
Vick has been no slouch himself, making a dazzling 57-yard run last weekend, and there's still the spring game this weekend when he'll go head-to-head with Randall. But coach Frank Beamer made it clear before practices that Vick is the challenger, not the leader, and it would appear Randall has done little to indicate otherwise.
"I don't think we've ever had two quarterbacks like this at the same time," said Beamer. "This is the most skilled and polished we've looked at this point of the spring."
Heeling the backfield
A year after finishing 106th out of 117 Division I-A teams in rushing (102.5 yards per game), North Carolina's backfield has gotten a much-needed spark from two new faces this spring.
Kentucky transfer Chad Scott, who led the Wildcats as a freshman in 2000 with 611 yards, finished spring No. 1 on the depth chart, edging out returnees Jacques Lewis, Willie Parker and Andre Williams. The 5-foot-9, 194-pound Scott has impressed coaches with his speed and ability to hit the hole
The Tar Heels' tailback of the future, though, may be true freshman Ronnie McGill. The Clover, S.C., native wasted no time making an impact upon his early enrollment in January, carrying 24 times for 104 yards and a touchdown in UNC's spring game last Saturday.
McGill, 5-11, was an option quarterback his first three years of high school and went lightly recruited until just a couple months before signing day. He's looked like nothing short of a blue-chipper since his arrival, though, proving to be the strongest and most physically gifted of UNC's backs and perhaps the toughest.
In one of his first practices, McGill raised eyebrows by bulldozing All-ACC safety Dexter Reid, then delivered his performance last Saturday despite an ankle injury that had sidelined him most of the two weeks prior.
Excuse the Tar Heel faithful, though, if they're reluctant to get too excited just yet. Despite a seemingly constant bevy of touted tailbacks arriving in Chapel Hill, UNC has not had a player run for as many as 600 yards since 1997.
Worth noting
The star of Dennis Franchione's first Maroon and White Game at Texas A&M -- attended by 41,072 -- was converted quarterback Jason Carter, who gained 181 all-purpose yards as a running back, receiver and return man. Maybe that's what Franchione's daughters were celebrating. .... Cal and Kansas State have agreed to play in the BCA Classic -- the last remaining exempt game -- Aug. 23 at Arrowhead Stadium, pending NCAA approval. ... With several holes to fill along the defensive line, Florida coach Ron Zook moved 6-7, 340-pound Mo Mitchell from offensive to defensive tackle late in the spring and has indicated he'll probably stay there. ... Philip Rivers' third offensive coordinator in four years at N.C. State will be ex-Auburn coordinator Noel Mazzone, fired by Tommy Tuberville following the 2001 season. Mazzone spent last season at Oregon State but wasn't retained by new head coach Mike Riley. ... Tennessee thinks it's found the playmaker it was lacking in 5-9 senior Mark Jones, who moved from defensive back to receiver in spring and caught four Casey Clausen passes for 152 yards in last week's Orange and White game. Jones may play both ways in the fall. ... Defending champ Ohio State, already returning its entire offense, has added a new threat in freshman receiver Santonio Holmes, who caught five passes for 213 yards and two touchdowns in the Buckeyes' first scrimmage. ... John David Booty, the prized Shreveport, La., quarterback prospect -- and brother of former LSU QB Josh Booty -- who committed to USC last month, made the unprecedented announcement this week that he is foregoing his senior season of high school to enroll at USC in the fall.
Stewart Mandel covers college sports for SI.com.
To send Stewart a question or comment, click here.
|
