Wednesday, September 15, 2010

Who misses their QB the most?

It took just two games for some teams to start showing how much they missed last year's starting quarterback.

A new starting quarterback is one of the toughest adjustments a team must make. It's incredibly important to groom a future quarterback and give him snaps in blowout situations to gain him in-game experience.

So, who's struggling so far?

Florida without Tim Tebow (pictured) -- The Gators are 2-0 and have outscored opponents 72-26 through eight quarters. That's hardly struggling for some, but for Florida, Tebow made all the difference. New quarterback John Brantley and the Gators fumbled eight times in the season opener against Miami (OH), and turned it on late for a seemingly comfortable win. Last week, Brantley completed just 58 percent of his passes for 172 yards in a win over South Florida.

Texas without Colt McCoy -- Another 2-0 team, the Longhorns have struggled more than their record indicates. New quarterback Garrett Gilbert got his first snaps last year in the National Championship when McCoy went down with an injury, but this year is his first as a starter. Through two games against Rice and Wyoming, Gilbert has just one touchdown pass, as the Longhorns have had to rely heavily on their running game. A 34-17 win over Rice may not have been if it wasn't for running back Tre' Newton's outstanding three-touchdown performance.

Cincinnati without Tony Pike -- Last year, there didn't seem to be much of a dropoff between Pike, the starter, and Zach Collaros, the backup. Pike is now in the NFL and it's the Collaros show. In his first real test this year, Collaros couldn't get the Bearcats clicking in a 28-14 road loss to Fresno State. A Week 2 win over FCS Indiana State wasn't enough to shake the feeling that the Week 1 outcome could have been differently with Pike at the helm.

Others receiving consideration: Penn State's Daryll Clark, Notre Dame's Jimmy Clausen, Kansas' Todd Reesing, Oklahoma's Sam Bradford.

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