Going into spring practices football head coach Tom O'Brien reaffirmed an open quarterback competition between seniors Paul Peterson and Quinton Porter.
On the field in Saturday's Spring Football Game, the competition seemed to be won with a slam dunk. Porter (15-19, 126 yards, one TD) looked like the quarterback who led BC into Blacksburg and to its fourth-straight bowl victory, while Peterson (5-15, 47 yards) was awful and looked like the guy who'd be carrying the clipboard come September. Porter has played well enough this spring to give himself a realistic chance to be the starter.
The fact that O'Brien would hold a competition is no surprise. Remember, this is the same coach that had Derrick Knight coming off the bench for the first two games in 2002. He doesn't hand jobs to anyone, and that's probably a good thing. Knight had to earn his starting job and eventually became BC's all-time leading rusher. If Peterson is forced to get better to remain the Eagles' starting quarterback I don't think anyone at BC would complain, but now there's a real possibility that Peterson won't play next year.
That would be a huge mistake. The spring games and scrimmages are great for developing young players, integrating new starters, and getting a feel for a team that's very different than the one that last saw the field in December. But despite what anyone says, they are not real games.
In real games, Peterson proved he was the better quarterback. As a starter, he went 3-0 and led his offense to 35, 34, and 35 points in games that changed BC's season from an utter failure to a success. Yes, he had Knight, and Knight had a lot, and probably more, to do with the offensive success than Peterson, but Porter had Knight, too. Porter was 5-5 as a starter, losing winnable games against Pittsburgh and Wake Forest with the offense averaging only 26.6 points a game.
What Peterson brings to the field cannot be measured in workouts, practices, or scrimmages. What he offers is best seen in the fourth quarter with the season on the line. Ask Virginia Tech about Peterson. Ask them about the pass he made to Grant Adams to steal that game. That's a play that Porter simply didn't make last year. It's a game that Porter would not have won.
Spring Break
