There’s an old saying in football: “If you have two quarterbacks, you don’t have one.”
I know, I know. You’ve already heard more than enough quarterback controversy. At this point, even the Missouri football team and the quarterbacks involved are ready to move forward.
But thanks to coach Gary Pinkel, the Drew Lock Hype Train and its ensuing controversy are just leaving the station.
After Saturday’s 34-3 Missouri win over Southeast Missouri State, the debate among Missouri fans centered on the team’s two quarterbacks: junior starter Maty Mauk and Lock, the baby-faced freshman backup.
The discussion was already there in the preseason, but it gained steam when Pinkel named Lock the second-string and elected to give him the opening offensive series of the second quarter. Missouri fans have seen this before in Pinkel’s management of young quarterback prospects, but that doesn’t necessarily make the strategy a good one. He’s dumping highly combustible jet fuel into the train’s tank, perhaps sending Missouri’s high hopes for this season up in smoke.
In fairness to Pinkel, Lock played no small part himself. The freshman from Lee’s Summit High School connected on his first four passes, leading the Tigers to a field goal at the conclusion of his second quarter cameo. As if his pocket presence, rhythm and arm strength weren’t enough to capture fans’ imaginations, Lock later found senior running back Tyler Hunt for a 78-yard touchdown in the fourth quarter. Granted, Hunt was wide open. But Lock’s poise in extending the play, scanning the field and firing to Hunt opened more than a few eyes.
Overall, Lock completed six of 10 passes for 138 yards and the Hunt touchdown.
Whether you pre-ordered your ticket aboard the Drew Lock Hype Train or you’re now chasing it down in hopes of hopping on at the last moment, Pinkel is pushing the Train to dangerous speeds heading toward the first sharp curve of Southeastern Conference play later this month.
Coach, it’s decision time.
Quarterback controversies never end well, especially when neither of the two clearly fits into a smaller, well-defined role. Regardless of whom Pinkel chooses, he must choose before he sacrifices Missouri’s entire season. Want to throw your support behind Lock and abandon Maty Mauk? Fine. Want to make Lock wait a year and reevaluate? Fine. But Missouri, especially its young wide receiving corps, needs the consistency and leadership of a firmly established starting quarterback without the constant disruption of indecision.
Sure, a few teams have had success playing a two-quarterback system. But the only national championship won from a dual-quarterback strategy was Florida’s in 2006, spearheaded by Chris Leak and a smooth-faced freshman named Tim Tebow. But Leak and Tebow were obviously different quarterbacks — Leak, a pocket passer; Tebow, a short-yardage power runner.
Mauk and Lock are too similar to work in tandem. Thus, Leak and Tebow put no pressure on one another; they weren’t in “competition” as much as they complimented each other. The same cannot be said of a Missouri quarterbacking duo from what’s been seen in the Tigers’ first game.
Most successes from true two-quarterback systems came long before Missouri’s current players were born: Georgia in 1959, Southern California in 1962, Florida State from 1977-79 and so on. Media coverage and fan interaction happened quite differently pre-2006, and quarterback controversies thrive on the unnecessary drama driven by social media. There was no Twitter forum from which fans could badger players or controversy could be stirred. When Florida won the national championship on Jan. 8, 2006, Twitter was only six months old.
If you’re in search of evidence to draw conclusions toward dual-QB systems’ future validity, a more apt comparison would be South Carolina’s infamous “Smelley Garcia.” When Gamecocks coach Steve Spurrier opted to platoon his two quarterbacks, sophomore Chris Smelley and redshirt freshman Stephen Garcia, fans slapped the mocking moniker on his decision after a disappointing 7-6 season.
Allow South Carolina’s failure to serve as Missouri’s warning.
Unless Pinkel leaves one of his quarterbacks on the bench, this discussion won’t end. After every practice, reporters will ask about his quarterback plan for the next game. After every mistake in practices or games, although he said he doesn’t feel threatened by his counterpart, Maty Mauk will glance over his shoulder at the Drew Lock Hype Train continuing to gain on him, and wonder if Pinkel will finally make the switch. The Tigers’ young receivers will try to adjust to each quarterback simultaneously, instead acclimating to neither. That’s not the blueprint for defending an SEC East title.
Notice that I haven’t supported one quarterback over the other. That issue is secondary. Both Mauk and Lock are capable of leading Missouri to a third straight SEC championship game; the Mauk-Lock combination is not. The Tigers need a single quarterback, and they need him soon.
The longer Gary Pinkel can’t make up his mind, the closer Missouri’s train draws to hurtling wildly off the rails.
