I give him an A+ too. I don't want to get into comparisons too much though. Marcus Randall and Matt Mauck are so much alike they are virtually interchangeable in our offense. Mauck's big advantage over Randall is experience. That will evaporate next spring, because Randall will start all of our five remaining games and possibly two more after that. Randall throws the ball better, but doesn't really have a stronger arm than Mauck. Mauck has better running ability than Randall, but not by much. Gosh, now I see why these two were neck-in-neck last spring until Randall got hurt! But hey, it's nice to have started with two great quarterbacks and have one pick up where the other left off. GEAUX TIGERS!!
It seems to me that Randel has a much stronger arm than Mauck and is also more accurate. What he doesn't have is the game experience that Mauck has. He displayed a lot of poise for his first start and will only get better. What I'm really excited about is the prospect of being able to open up the offense a little more now and spreading the ball around. Double D is a great back, but opening things up and spreading the ball around will only make him more dangerous.
Quarterbacks Both quarterbacks have strong leadership qualities. Randall has better, IMO, pocket presence and a quicker release. Mauck seems to have a quicker first step, when he decides to run. I suspect that Randall may have better top speed. He seemed to move like a tailback with great speed and power once he passed the LOS. I was impressed with the quick release of Randall and his accuracy. I wonder if either quarterback can throw a pass in an area that Eric Edwards can catch. It seems that every pass that is thrown to him is over his head or thrown into the ground. A guy his size is just not going to be able to make the adjustments to the ball that the slimmer receivers can make. I feel that us LSU fans are very fortunate to have this group of quarterbacks. One of my favorite expressions that Coach John Brady uses often, "When good coaching meets good talent, good things happen".
i know that one of the passes to Edwards was behind him, the passes are making him look bad. Some one in the stands "No wonder they never throw to him, he can't catch em "
Randall Jetstorm I STRONGLY disagree. What I saw was a much stronger arm, a stronger quicker runner than Mauck. Nothing against Mauck at all he did a good job for us, but you have to go with the most talented player and that is Randall. Many times Mauck would just hold the ball so long he missed his receiver being open, Randall was not doing that. Plus he was firing rockets on a rope to the receivers, very hard to intercept, and on long passes put nice air under the ball. With the amount of reps he'll now get in practice he should get his timing down quick on those long passes.
Randall is still green ... And has to go through the learning curve that Mauck has already passed through. He may lose a game or two but he seems to have the stuff to develop into a fine QB. Especially if he maintains his poise on the road next week. I just hope Harrison and Clausen are getting some snaps. If Randall goes down someone will have to lace it up and go.
I'll say this. Randall was better in his first start than Mauck. Granted, Mauck was against Va Tech. It doesn't matter, though, 'cuz we now have Randall. I would not worry about other QB's not getting enough reps. We have SOLID coaching, guys. They will NOT drop the ball. If we start out well against Auburn, look for another QB to mop up.
Re: Quarterbacks If Eric Edwards could just get a halfway-decent ball thrown his way every now and then, he'd be the best pass-catching tight end in the country. He is already one of the best blocking tight ends in the country, IMHO. As better opposing defenses key on our receivers, throwing to the tight end will become more important. Edwards has shown flashes of brilliance his first two years here, so I KNOW he can catch the ball. He's just not getting any good ones thrown his way, they are always tipped balls, overthrows, or dying ducks, with Randall or Mauck.
Re: Randall You are welcome to disagree, but I just didn't see the overwhelming difference of talent that you saw when Randall played with South Carolina (Randall played great, though). To me, they are a lot alike. And let's not forget the great job Mauck did of running and passing against Florida. That's why the injury is so unfortunate for him; he was just starting to grasp the system and play like I knew he could. Anyway, it's all academic now until spring practice, because Mauck is out for the year. But it will be an interesting quarterback race next season.
