I've seen too many excuses/blames of some of the down turn in the season b/c we lost Mauck and had to go to Randall. The stats speak for themselves: Rushing Mauck: 50 for 175, 3.5/carry, 29.2/game Randall: 62 for 270, 4.4/carry, 27/game Passing: Mauck 63 for 130 (48%), 782 yds, 9 TDs, 2 Ints, 130.3/game, 119 Eff. Randall 68 for 136 (50%), 980 yds, 6 TDs, 4 Ints, 98/game, 119 Eff. Mauck put those #'s up vs: Va Tech, Citadel, Miami (OH), Miss St, ULL, Florida Randall's #'s vs: S. Carolina, Auburn, Kentucky, Alabama, Ole Miss, Arkansas Not that Randall blew Mauck away or anything but his #'s are very comparable against tougher competition. Also, Randall per game stats are skewed he played in 10 games.....4 of which are mop up duty. would be 45/game rush, 163/game pass. The point being there has been no drop-off at QB...yes, he has had some growing pains....primarily the Auburn game.....other than that little difference. He hasn't come close to throwing an INT since the Aubbie game either. we have just as good a chance with Randall, if not better, as with Mauck. Head-to-Head: Arm Strength: Randall Accuracy: Mauck Running Ability: Randall Speed: pick 'em Improvisation: Randall Leadership: pick 'em Turnovers: pick 'em....yes he has more int's but all 2nd start...and he looks to have cured the fumble problem. I know this is coming so I'll head it off......yes the loss of Mauck caused us to regress for Randall to come up to speed....but not a single game we lost since Randall started can be blamed on his performance...might give a little on Aubbie but I don't think we could have won even without the 4 picks. If he can get more accurate with his passing then he will be lethal. Look for him to have a good game against UT....pressure doesn't bother him and he does an excellent job of avoiding it. Looks like he has cured his fumblitis, won't throw any int's....has learned his lesson. Not that he will win the game for us but he won't lose it for us either.
I don't think it was the stats so much as maturity, the drop off in experience level, and the ability to run the offense with confidence. Both QB's are very similar athletically and now are very close overall since Marcus has gotten all the snaps for the 2nd half of the season. Spring practice should be very interesting.
... Hub I don't think anyone would disagree with you. The bad thing about losing Mauck was he was just starting to become a SEC QB. With Randell the Tigers had to start over. Randell will do a good job a QB. The one thing that will be good out of losing Mauck when we did is now we will have two QB's with big game experince.
Hypothetical: Assume both QBs are perfectly healthy right now....Mauck playing as he was against Florida and Randall playing as he is now. Who would you want to start? It's a tough call but I think I would go with Randall. Glad I'm not the coach......tough decision.
Either one would do a fine job. Coach will deal with that decison when he has to. Hope Randell doesn't get injuried.
I disagree a bit about the leadership issue. I think Mauck really had the confidence of his team, had control of the offense, and had stepped into the huge leadership void left by the departure of Rohan. When Mauck went down, Randall had to immediately step into this same role, and he struggled initially. I think he has obtained this control, confidence and leadership, but it was evident early that it was lacking. Marcus had to become more confident in himself before he could gain the confidence of the team. I think he has developed that over the last several games, but he didn't have the advantage of entering the position with that confidence as did Mauck, stemming from the SEC Championship game.
Mauck was AWESOME against the Gators. One could tell he was really coming into his own from that performance. M R misses ALOT of open targets, but he's coming off his best game of the year against the Hogs. It was a shame LSU lost and I hope he picks up where he left off against Texas. I would start Mauck if he were healthy based on his maturity and accuracy,hands down.
Mauck was ahead of Randall in the intangibles that come with game experience. I think Mauck would have out-performed Randall in the second part of the season. Randall was going through the learning curve that Mauck had already been through when he looked so bad in those losses. In the spring, they both will be evenly matched in experience. One will have to show an accurate and consistent passing arm or we may be seeing a talented, but inexperienced freshman in the fall mix. We can NOT suffer another season without a competent passing game. What's the word on Harrison? Is he a player or not? He has game experience and is supposed to have an arm. What is missing there?
Coaches had to get used to Randall also I think you can tell only so much from a QB in practice. When the lights are on, everything changes. The coaches seemed to give Randall safe plays to run vs. South Carolina and he did well. He played horrible at Auburn but a lot of his poor decisions were on 3rd and long. I think the coaches may not have communicated what to do if a play breaks down well enough to Randall (or he didn't listen). I'm also curious about Harrison. I kept thinking he would be Randall's backup but was suprised when they went to Clausen. Looks like we'll be fine at QB next year. With our coaching staff having the time to work with Mauck, Randall, Lane, Clausen, Harrison, Flynn(?) someone should emerge. I also think Mauck would've performed better than Randall during the 2nd half of the season because of the confidence gained at Florida. However, now they have equal experience and that momentum is lost. I think they will both be given a chance to be the starter next year. Lane would have to be everything (and then some) that we've heard. I sure hope he is.
this brings up something that i have thought about this season. Granted, Mauck and Randall are the best we have now and no one else should play.....are they really the caliber who can allow us to compete for SECC and beyond?, IMO, i don't think they are quite that caliber. Yes, Mauck led us to the championship last year but i see that as unique.....you brought something at Tenn that they were in no way prepared for. That said, we have 1 to 3 QBs (I'm not convinced Lane isn't going to MLB, will we get Russell?, and we've got Flynn) coming in next year who are "suppose" to be really good....transition to college can be a killer. Assuming 1 "lives up to their billing" I wouldn't be totally shocked to see some change in the QB chart. Saban originally wanted Mauck to play Free Safety when he came but he stayed at QB. With the obvious need at Free Safety, I wouldn't be totally shocked to see him moved there in the spring at least as a test......with Randall at QB and the freshmen grooming behind him. This might be farfetched in light of the injury bug this year and fear that it could hit again and be left with a truly green QB as your starter. Just an idea. That said, I've heard rumblings, as you probably have, this week that M Clayton has been playing some safety in practice this week. he is the prototypical safety and saban would love to move him there if not for his need at WR. If Green & others can step up that might be the answer and make everything above bs....if it isn't already.
