QB Transfers from I-A -- how're they doin'?

[PapaBear]

Flacco, from Pitt (Delaware)
Guttierrez from Michigan (forgot where he landed)
Bomar from Oklahoma (SHSU)
Swogger from Wash State (Montana)

I'm sure there are others....

I assume these guys are playing by now? How are they doing?

[AppGuy04]

Bomar can't play yet

[Mr. C]

Flacco appears to be off to a rough start (just like Riccio before him).

Gutierrez of Idaho State has been playing well. He had a fine game in the narrow 3-point loss to Dennis Erickson's Idaho club last week.

Bomar is still dealing with his NCAA problems. I haven't heard any new word about when he will be allowed to play. There has been talk he would miss as much as half of the season.

Swogger got banged up against Iowa in Montana's opening game, but may play against Sacramento State in the Griz Big Sky opener on Saturday.

[89Hen]

Flacco, from Pitt (Delaware)
1-1, has nobody to throw to and was under pressure a lot against Albany. Looks like he will be OK, but this could be a long year for him.

[ChickenMan]

Flacco looks to have the talent... but his supporting cast hasn't been very helpful in the first two games.

[Green26]

Based on 1 game, as well as various scrimmages and practices, Swogger appears to be a very good qb, perhaps a great one. After going 3-8-1 to start the Iowa game (and looking a bit rusty), and getting sacked twice and hurried a couple times, he was 13-19 (68.5%) and sacked only once during the remainder of the game. His completion percentage was a bit better than Drew Tate's. Swogger has shown that he is fairly mobile, and is strong enough to throw with a lineman hanging on him. He has dropped weight from his 245 playing weight at WSU, and is now 6'5", about 235 (or slighter lower). He can scramble, but that is not his strength. He likes to stand in the pocket.

He appears to be able to read defenses well, and has alot of poise. He's a team leader and captain, having also been a captain as a sophomore at WSU (only their second sophomore captain ever). He's been well-received by the team, even by the now-back-up qb who started last year as a freshman.

He has a rocket arm. He can throw all sideline passes, can throw long, and can flick it 55 yards in the air. He can kneel on the 50 yard line, and throw it over the goal post--although came up short trying to do this at the spring game. While he throws hard, he also seems to have decent touch too.

He broke his little finger on this non-throwing hand at Iowa, but kept playing. I think it may have been pinned, so he had a large soft cast on it the next weekend, and didn't suit up. He's practicing this week.

Montana's receivers have been looking pretty good, and catching the ball, so far. Allen, a transfer from OK St. last year, has been looking especially good and athletic, after a disappointing year last year. Chambers, the UW transfer, is now eligible, and should make an impact once he gets going. 3 of the receivers are 6'4 or so, with good speed.

[Blueandwhitefightfight]

Georgia Southern's Travis Clark who came from Southern Miss is doing great. He has a great style and attitude. Coach VanGorder says he has an NFL caliber arm. He can also scramble if he needs to pretty well (his 40 is 4.5, not lazer fast but good enough).

The best part, he is only a sophomore...

[GaSouthern]

Georgia Southern's Travis Clark who came from Southern Miss is doing great. He has a great style and attitude. Coach VanGorder says he has an NFL caliber arm. He can also scramble if he needs to pretty well (his 40 is 4.5, not lazer fast but good enough).

The best part, he is only a sophomore...

His attitude is what I really enjoy, that and his leadership!

[Pard4Life]

Colgate's transfer QB from Tulane is still on the bench behind Saraceno.

[mtgrizfan4life]

Unfortunately Swogger got injured against IOWA. Word has it that he will start against Sac State for the Big Sky home opener. From what I have seen in scrimmages, practice, and Iowa game his arm is definately NFL caliber. He stays calm under pressure and makes all the right decisions. This week will be the 1st week we will get to see him and Chambers play together finally. I am hoping sooner than later we open up the offensive play book. Come playoff time every defense will have to worry about the threat of the vertical game with Swogger in there. Yes it is true he can throw the ball 60 yds from his knees! His accuracy has been the question mark from his time at WSU, but to this point I think his accuracy has been just fine from what I have seen. During fall practice a good majority of incompletions were him throwing it away or dropped balls.

[ysubigred]

Mike Schneider (Duke) rideing the pine behind 3 year starter Tommy (TD) Zetts. In the few chances he got to play he's be a Duke caliber QB :)

[bison137]

One more name - Bucknell's Andrew Lair, who transferred from Navy. I believe he only attended their summer session last year before leaving. He spent the fall helping his New Orleans family recover from Katrina and then attended Bucknell this past spring.

Lair has won the starting job and is playing fairly well for a first-year player. He runs the ball well although he is still learning the nuances of the option attack. His passing seems to be OK although BU does not throw the ball much. (Too little imo.)

[dbackjon]

Pete Hargis (Army) has yet to play, and probably won't until next year for NAU.

[bobbythekidd]

One more name - Bucknell's Andrew Lair, who transferred from Navy. I believe he only attended their summer session last year before leaving. He spent the fall helping his New Orleans family recover from Katrina and then attended Bucknell this past spring.

Lair has won the starting job and is playing fairly well for a first-year player. He runs the ball well although he is still learning the nuances of the option attack. His passing seems to be OK although BU does not throw the ball much. (Too little imo.)
Is he eligable to play? Why did he step down? An oppertunity to learn the option from the master himself seems to good to pass up.xidiotx

[bobbythekidd]

One more name - Bucknell's Andrew Lair, who transferred from Navy. I believe he only attended their summer session last year before leaving. He spent the fall helping his New Orleans family recover from Katrina and then attended Bucknell this past spring.

Lair has won the starting job and is playing fairly well for a first-year player. He runs the ball well although he is still learning the nuances of the option attack. His passing seems to be OK although BU does not throw the ball much. (Too little imo.)
Is he eligable to play? Why did he step down? An oppertunity to learn the option from the master himself seems to good to pass up.xidiotx

[blackfordpu]

Bomar is still waiting on the NCAA to pass down their decision.

[siugrad99]

Aren't all Montana players NFL Caliber to anyone from Montana ?

[DFW HOYA]

Georgetown does not fare well with I-A transfers on offense of late.

QB Nick Cangelosi (UNC) is third on the GU depth chart due to spring injuries. Last year, Cangelosi beat out Keith Allan (Army), who subsequently left the team.

[Mr. C]

Mike Schneider (Duke) rideing the pine behind 3 year starter Tommy (TD) Zetts. In the few chances he got to play he's be a Duke caliber QB :)
If Schneider had stayed at Duke, he'd most likely be the starter now. Bad move, if he wanted to play. Good move if he wanted to win.

[Mr. C]

Appalachian State's transfer QB Chase Laws (Army) started the spring as the backup to Trey Elder, but was passed by by freshman Armanti Edwards during camp. Of course Edwards is now the starter. Laws saw his first action at QB in the fourth quarter Saturday against Mars Hill and looked good. Laws is a regular on the ASU special teams (how many QBs in I-AA do you see running down and making tackles on kickoffs?).

[Kill'em]

Travis Clark, after a shaky first start really looked impressive last Saturday. He was more composed and made good decisions. He has a cannon and I wonder if this didn't account for some of the dropped passes against CCSU.

I would love to see him matched up against Swogger. That would be fun. From the limited video I saw of him, this guy also has a cannon.

[EKU05]

Allan Holand (from Wake Forest) saw his first significant PT for EKU tonight and didn't play well at all...but no one did tonight so you can't really take much away from it.

[Green26]

Addressing SIUGrad's earlier comment, this NFL prospect list has Montana's Swogger has the 2nd qb and 20th player, on the Small School List. It looks like people outside of Montana think he may be an NFL prospect. Swogger was Street & Smith's I-AA newcomer of the year, I believe.

http://www.draftshowcase.com/07SmallSchool.htm

Hilliard, Montana's running back who is out for the season with an achilles tendon injury, is listed 17th on the list. I didn't notice any SIU players in the top 50.

[youwouldno]

I question the ability of a QB to learn the system in less than a year, even one with experience... though I guess it depends on the complexity of the offense. Swogger has tools, obviously, but I assume the hope is that he can lead Montana deep into the playoffs, which obviously remains to be seen. Since this is his only season, it has to count.

Clark is more of a developmental prospect, especially considering the difficulty GSU is experiencing in their offensive transition.

[catbob]

Jack Rolovich from Hawaii was unable to claim the starting QB spot from Cory Carpenter, but is currently serving as our starting punter, using the roll-out style that we have been using for the last several years. With the way Carpenter has played the last 2 games, I wouldnt be suprised to see Rolovich either start or become the starter against EWU this week.

[soweagle]

Is Alex Mortenson(sp) playing at Samford?

[bison137]

Is he eligable to play? Why did he step down? An oppertunity to learn the option from the master himself seems to good to pass up.xidiotx

Yes, he's eligible. He did not play for Navy last year. I don't have any first-hand knowledge on why he left, but it could well be that he discovered during the Navy summer session that he was not going to be happy there. As I mentioned, he spent first semester out of school helping his family recover from Katrina, which occurred August 29th of last year. I don't know if he had already left the Naval Academy at that point or if he left after it hit.

[Proud Griz Man]

Aren't all Montana players NFL Caliber to anyone from Montana ?

No. Get serious pal. :nonono2:

[ysubigred]

If Schneider had stayed at Duke, he'd most likely be the starter now. Bad move, if he wanted to play. Good move if he wanted to win.

Hey Thanks!! I'll take that as a compliment :) I believe the story on Mike is: He did not transfer due to football PT etc... but YSU offers a masters program he wanted and Duke did not have it :eyebrow:

[Green26]

Swogger had a terrific game against Sacramento St. He played only the first and third quarters, and less than one minute of the second quarter and less than two minutes of the fourth quarter. 14-18, 3 TD's, 221 yards and 1 interception (with 5 seconds to go in the half). His qb rating was 224.8.

The opposing coach, who used to be an NFL asst coach, said: "He's got a great arm and he's very accurate. He made a couple of throws today into coverage that not many people can make. He didn't exactly have guys wide open, but he made great throws. He's got the talent to be playing on Sundays."

Montana's qb coach says he hasn't been around a qb with as strong an arm as Swogger, since he coached Aikman. The qb coach is Steve Axman, who has previously been the offensive coordinator at UCLA (at 2 differenct times), qb coach at various schools, and head coach of Northern Arizona. Besides Aikman, he's coached Neal O'Donnell, Cody Pickett, Jeff Lewis, Travis Brown and Marques Tuiasosopo. The Griz were very fortunate to get him when a coach retired a few weeks before pre-season practice. Axman did not coach last year and was not planning to coach this year. Axman and our coach, Bobby Hauck, have a prior relationship. I think Hauck worked for Axman at NAU.

The season is still young, and Swogger has played only 2 games, but he looks good so far, and we're hopeful he will have a strong season.

[bison137]

Is Lair eligable to play? Why did he step down? An oppertunity to learn the option from the master himself seems to good to pass up.xidiotx

Here's an article that talks about Lair's decision to leave the Academy. Following Hurricane Katrina, he asked permission to leave to help his family, who were New Orleans residents. He was told he could leave but couldn't return. Hence the transfer to Bucknell for the spring semester.

http://bucknellbison.cstv.com/sports/m-footbl/spec-rel/092106aaa.html

Unfortunately for the Bison and for Andrew, he broke his collarbone early in the Richmond game last week and is out for the season. He still has three more years of eligibility.

[HIU 93]

TJ Mitchell (from WVU) is the truth. They haven't played him much, but when he has played, he has done well. Personally, I think he should start. Shepard is just too inconsistent to me.

[G.S.Green]

TJ Mitchell (from WVU) is the truth. They haven't played him much, but when he has played, he has done well. Personally, I think he should start. Shepard is just too inconsistent to me.

Shepard has all the tools and his confidence is much better this year. Don't forget that he is motivated after seeing TJ Mitchell sub in during teh first game in a win.

The question I have is how long do you think Herb Bynes is going to wait in the wings? He is an inch taller and 10 lbs heavier and looks very good in practice.

[Gate Football Man]

The Colgate QB (transfer from Tulane) is #2 behind Sareceno (a senior). He is a red-shirt Freshman, so he has 3 years ahead of him at Colgate. By all accounts he has a tremendous arm and knowledge of the game.

[MR. CHICKEN]

PERTAININ' TA FLACCO.........10 DROPS BAH OURAH WIDE..OUTS......PER KEELER........COMBINED....LAST TWO...GAMES..........DUH UN-OFFICIAL..COUNT....UH TAD HIGHER........OURAH O-LINE...HAS MO' HOLES...DAN....UH BLOCK O' SUPER G'S.......IMPORTED SWISS........DUH FLAKSTER...HAS BEEN ON TARGET...WHIFF 50 YARD SCUDS...TA OURAH TIGHT-ENDS......AN'...OURAH WATER-BUGS....ARE FAST...LIKE..........UNCLE JIMMY'S......USED CAR SALESMEN.............BUT DESE YOUNGSTERS.....COULDN'T HOLD ON TA....SWEATER PUPPIES.........AT UH PHI BETA KAPPA..........KEGGER!................: smh :....AWK!

[bigbluetiger]

Antonio Hefner (South Carolina) and Mike Mason (North Carolina) have greatly improved our offense. Mason is hurt and will be out for a few weeks but Hefner almost beat Vandy by himself.

[HIU 93]

Shepard has all the tools and his confidence is much better this year. Don't forget that he is motivated after seeing TJ Mitchell sub in during teh first game in a win.

The question I have is how long do you think Herb Bynes is going to wait in the wings? He is an inch taller and 10 lbs heavier and looks very good in practice.

You're right, I forgot about Bynes. He's from Florida, and TJ has I-A experience (even if it was just practice). I just want Shepard to sit down. I have been watching him his entire career, and he is soft, throws a wounded duck, and isn't really that fast. Mitchell was the truth in high school, and from what I've seen at the Gram game, he is better than Shepard. My question is this- Why do we have five QBs? Can't we cut Smith? I think we should go with Mitchell as the starter, Bynes #2, an Shepard #3. We should send Smith packing or make him a RB or WR. He is a terrible QB.