The startling thing about Jeremy Johnson is not that he's struggled.
The startling thing is that no one saw it coming.
He looked great in relief of Nick Marshall last year against Auburn, and thus came the typical overreaction:
JEREMY JOHNSON MIGHT BE BETTER THAN NICK MARSHALL!
Never really bought it, largely because Johnson is not a dual-threat quarterback. Yes, he had a long run at LSU when the game was already out of hand. But he's not a zone-read quarterback. And in that offense, it's going to be a problem.
Marshall wasn't the greatest passer, but he was one of the best zone-read quarterbacks you'll ever see.
Here, the Alabama paper examines what went wrong with Johnson ... without really examining what went wrong with Johnson.
Quarterback eras can be measured in seasons, lined with accolades both of a personal nature and awarding team supremacy.
Heisman trophies, conference championships and national championships.
The Jeremy Johnson era at Auburn, once truly in effect after two seasons of being in a supporting role, was three error-filled games that weighed down both the junior quarterback's confidence and Auburn's offense as a whole.
Auburn coach Gus Malzahn had seen enough after reviewing the 45-21 loss at LSU.
Johnson is out, benched in favor of backup Sean White, who will try and get Auburn's season back on track against Mississippi State at Jordan-Hare Stadium Saturday night.
"Jeremy is a competitor but he's a team guy too," Malzahn said. "He'll support Sean. He'll get reps still in practice and he'll be ready if he's called upon."
A few Wednesday links:
-- According to the Palm Beach Post, our long national nightmare is over. Miami is ditching this awful jersey font:
The strangest-looking font seen today on a college football jersey — outside of Louisville, of course — is going away.
UM Athletic Director Blake James said Tuesday that the team’s new Adidas jerseys, which were unveiled before the season, will undergo a change:
-- At Grantland, they wonder whether Everett Golson has what it takes to keep FSU at the powerhouse level.
“I think your biggest concern … is how does he acclimate to the players?” Fisher said when asked what worried him about Golson’s transition. “That’s something as a coach you can’t force … when you transfer, it’s, ‘Hey, I’m not here to save everything. I’m here to help you and help our team and help this program. I’m just another guy.’”
That is both true and misleading.
Golson does not need to save the Seminoles, who won a national title two years ago and made it to the penultimate contest last year. With a stout defense and a running back with game-breaking ability, FSU was going to be good again in 2015 regardless of how the quarterback derby shook out. But for FSU to be good enough to bank another berth in the College Football Playoff, Fisher certainly needs Golson to be better than just another guy.
And through three weeks, it’s unclear whether he will be.
-- Espionage returns to Big 12 football, writes Berry Tramel.
Jeff Lebby, once a Bob Stoops ballplayer and student coach, showed up at Owen Field on Saturday dressed in Tulsa blue but bleeding Baylor green.
Lebby is a Baylor loyalist, by marriage and by paycheck, as both assistant coach and son-in-law to Baylor monarch Art Briles. Lebby spent a chunk of Saturday patrolling the TU sideline.
Stoops didn't like it. Didn't like it one bit. Stoops was so agitated, he took his eye off the ball. On the Monday that Stoops addressed the Baylor infiltration, ESPN sent reporter Jeannine Edwards to profile OU quarterback Baker Mayfield.
Yes, the same Jeannine Edwards who is married to OSU defensive coordinator Glenn Spencer. From all reports, she was welcomed magnanimously. You can handle the spies you know about. It's the spies you don't know about that boil blood.
Espionage has resurfaced in the Big 12. If it ever left. Coaching is a paranoid profession, but just because you're paranoid doesn't mean everyone's not out to get you.
Big 12 football has turned all Holy Roman Empire. Dangerous liaisons. It's like Game of Thrones. You can't keep up with the cast of characters. All kinds of dynastic feuds. All kinds of political intrigue. All kinds of warring between the states.
Who knew that Briles even had another family member on staff? His son, Kendal, the coach suspended for a game earlier this season for violating NCAA rules, is the offensive coordinator. But a son-in-law is on the staff, too? Who knew that Briles is building a fiefdom in Waco?
-- Former Clemson player Jeff Cruce jumps on the No Punt bandwagon.
Four games into his Kelley experiment, Jeff Cruce has seen mixed results. His football team at Berkeley is just 1-3, but his up-tempo offense is thriving. The Berkeley High Stags are averaging close to 94 plays, an unheard of number in a 48-minute game. They are also piling up close to 500 yards of offense.
“It’s all because we don’t punt,” Cruce says. “You get that extra down. The thought process is that every down is a first down. That’s the way we preach it to our kids.”
Cruce says his defense is struggling, but this was expected — and part of the reason he committed to the no-punts philosophy. If your strength is offense, Cruce reasons, you might as well try to keep the ball in your playmakers’ hands. There has been a learning curve. For now, Berkeley is refraining from onside kicking after touchdowns. Maybe next year, Cruce says.
There is, however, a new energy around the program. His players bought into the system immediately, he says, taking to the aggressive mindset. There is something about that extra down that fosters confidence, he says. In truth, one of the biggest challenges has been convincing his assistant coaches. Some habits die hard.
“It’s like a poker player,” Cruce says. “I have taken all of my chips and I have placed them in the middle of the table. And I’ve told my assistant coaches this: This could be a career-ending decision that I’ve made. But I feel so strongly about it. I know it’s gonna work.”
Cruce is admittedly new to the system, but he also believes it could work at a higher level. Maybe someday, a Division I college program will give it a shot. Maybe someday, a school will take a look at Kelley himself. A few moments later, though, Cruce pauses.
“Call me in six months,” he says. “I’ll let you know what I think then.”
-- And Jackie Green with a fairly beautiful cover of Neil Young's "After the Gold Rush."
LW
