I see some posts where some people question whether Matt Mauck is the man to lead the Tigers to the promised land. "He throws to Clayton too much" "He doesn't look for secondary receivers" "He runs too often and risks injury" and Yada Yada Yada. Lets take a look at Matt Mauck: He is not a kid. He is a 24 or 25 year old man who has been out in the real world trying to work his way up the Chicago Cubs minor league system to the big leagues. He is not intimidated by the pressure of being watched by 92,000 fans live and in front of millions of viewers on national TV. Mauck had seen very limited playing time when Rohan Davey was injured in the SEC Championship game in 2001. It was a game that Mauck had little expectation of even taking one snap from center. He entered the game with almost no time to warm up. So what did Mauck do on LSU's first possession after he entered the game? He engineered a drive that resulted in a touchdown against a Tennessee team that was all set to go to the Rose Bowl to play for the national championship if they could beat LSU. True, he was only 5 for 15 passing in the game but he responded to the pressure and played within his capabilites and led LSU to the SEC Championship. The Virginia Tech game was Maucks first game as the starting QB. He didn't play a great game but he wasn't nearly as bad as his stats. He was 15 for 35 but the highly touted corps of Tiger receivers dropped at least 8 or 9 passes in that game. THAT IS STILL THE ONLY GAME THAT LSU HAS EVER LOST WHEN MAUCK STARTED THE GAME. Following the V Tech game Mauck improved from game to game up until the game in the Swamp when he played his best game as a Tiger up until then as he led LSU to a blowout win on the road. If he hadn't suffered the season ending injury LSU's record would have been a lot better than 8-5. So far this year Mauck has gotten better and better with each game. The Tigers haven't played anybody yet who is capable of giving them a real test but look at the first 3 games as the pre-season. It was an opportunity to work out the kinks and get the timing down pat. Even if LSU dosen't beat Georgia this weekend I am confident that it won't be because of any ill advised passes by Mauck that result in interceptions or because he panics under the UGA pass rush. Mauck probably won't be drafted into the NFL. He dosen't have the NFL caliber arm that the NFL scouting system places so much value on. Then again maybe he will get a shot at pro ball. Neither Joe Montana or Kenny Stabler had a cannon for an arm and both of them are in the Hall of Fame with 5 Superbowl wins between them. In 1992 Jay Barker led Alabama to a national championship. Krenzel did the same for Ohio State last year. Neither Barker or Krenzel had the physical abilities that Mauck has but both of them had the kind of intangible qualities that made their teams big winners who wouldn't accept defeat. Mauck has the same kind of intangibles as a team leader who can rally his team when the chips are down and make his teamates better. When Matt Mauck's career as LSU's QB is over his name will be right up there with Y.A Tittle, Bert Jones, Alan Risher, Tommy Hodson and Rohan Davey as great Tiger quarterbacks.
Thank you, thank you, thank you, BengalB. I cannot for the life of me understand why some fans have such grave reservations about Matt Mauck. Some have complained that he's played mostly against "patsie" teams and that we need to play the freshmen. Who have the freshmen played against? Some say that he throws too much to one receiver. I say that when that one receiver is constantly open - THROW TO HIM! Did we have those same complaints after the Davey-to-Reed show against Alabama? Neither one of us is saying that he is the best quarterback in the SEC. But I AM saying that he is the best quarterback at LSU. Let's give him the support he deserves.
I have to agree totally. There is absolutely nothing wrong with Matt Mauck. Why is it we always attempt to see the down side of a team or player when there are so many more positive things about them that could be discussed? IMO Matt Mauck is probably one of the best leaders that the Tigers have seen in some time with the exception of possibly Rohan. But then again, they are different type QBs. I think the Tigers are lucky to have Matt at the helm and wouldn't trade him for any other SEC QB because he brings more than his game; he's a leader.
Mauck is the man to lead us to the promised land. He may not have a cannon for an arm but he can get the job done. As for the people saying he throws to Clayton too much look at it this way. "If it ain't broke don't fix it." In other words if Clayton is always open and catching passes why switch to another reciever. I mean I don't think people like Skyler Green and Devery Henderson are getting mad because they are not getting that many receptions. As long as we are winning everything is ok. This is a special LSU team. They understand the importance of team work and doing things for the team. If winning games means less playing time for certain players and more for others I think there all for it.
