Quarterback crunch

SCOTT CAIN
ARKANSAS DEMOCRAT-GAZETTE

FAYETTEVILLE -- Jared McBride is a walking example of how Arkansas' quarterback situation has swung so dramatically in one year, even if he is walking on crutches.
McBride toiled patiently in the depth for four years waiting for his turn. When his time finally came, it ended two plays later with him crumpled on the turf at South Carolina feeling the internal burn of a torn knee ligament.
Quarterback down. Insert another. And another. And another.
Arkansas has spit out quarterbacks like candy through a Pez dispenser in the last 14 months.
"I've never seen anything like it," Coach Houston Nutt said.
Since the beginning of the 1999 season, a stable of nine quarterbacks has shrunk to five, of which only two are scholarship players and another was recruited from the intramural fields last week.
At one point, between the spring and preseason practices in 1999, Arkansas had seven scholarship quarterbacks on the roster.
"It's amazing," quarterbacks coach Joe Ferguson said. "We're sitting here with seven two years ago and now we don't have enough."
Hobbled true freshman Zak Clark and sophomore Robby Hampton are preparing this week to play Saturday against Tennessee, which has the SEC's second-ranked defense and leads the league in sacks (36).
Not long ago they were just part of the crowd.
Clint Stoerner completed his eligibility after last season. Chadd Jones quit before the 1999 season. Grant Sumner quit last February. Gary Brashears transferred to Tulsa in August. McBride was lost for the season with the knee injury. All were scholarship players.
A group of walk-ons came and went in that time, including John Rutledge. He left after the third game last season because after spending more than two years in the system, he didn't see an opportunity to play.
Nutt asked Rutledge to rejoin the team nine days ago. The junior from Searcy ended up playing four series Saturday against Ole Miss fresh off competing in three flag football leagues.
The scholarship players left standing entering this season were Hampton, Clark and McBride, along with walk-ons Chris Link and Dowell Loggains.
The supply finally dried up that day in South Carolina when Nutt had to stick Hampton back on the field even though the starter had injured his throwing thumb, neck and knee. Only three quarterbacks made the trip and all three were injured in the game.
Arkansas scored its only touchdown against South Carolina using all three quarterbacks on the same drive.
"I've been playing football since I was four years old and I've never seen three quarterbacks go out in the same game," junior guard Kenny Sandlin said.
Since then, the Razorbacks have played two games, both without a truly healthy scholarship quarterback.
Hampton, still a little banged up from the South Carolina game, sprained his shoulder Oct. 28 against Auburn. Clark limped in on a high ankle sprain to finish the game and was so limited that Nutt had to eliminate the sprint-out portion of the offense.
Clark started against Ole Miss because Hampton couldn't. Four minutes into the game, Clark had to leave temporarily because his ankle took a direct hit. Rutledge played two series in the first half and two in the second with Clark handling the rest.
It's unlikely that Hampton or Clark will fully recover until after the season.
The instability at quarterback is part of the reason that Nutt has kept the offense simple. It also helps explain why Arkansas has dropped from 37th in passing last season to 72nd this week. The UA is 90th in passing efficiency.
Ideally, Clark would have redshirted this season, seen spot duty next year and then taken the starting job as a sophomore in 2002. The experience will accelerate his learning but it's hardly an ideal situation.
A young quarterback could damage his confidence if he throws a lot of interceptions quickly. Clark has thrown five, four in a span of three quarters, but Nutt has said Clark is mentally tough enough to shake off the turnovers, in part, because he's a coach's son.
If any lesson has come from the injury purge that the quarterbacks and the entire team have felt this season, it's that patience can be rewarded with playing time.
"This is a marathon," Nutt said. "If you think it's a 100-meter sprint, you're wrong. If you stay here five years, the chances are pretty good that you're going to play."
Brashears, a former Parade All-American from Clarksville, wouldn't have had to wait that long. He would be making at least his second start this week if he hadn't bailed out after the first preseason practice. As part of the NCAA transfer rule, he's sitting out this season at Tulsa and last week was given what Coach Keith Burns termed a "leave of absence" though he remains part of the team.
Jones would be a senior if he'd stayed and Sumner a junior, but their situations differ from the others who left.
Sumner had moved to defense during the Cotton Bowl practices last December and might still be there if he'd stayed. And coaches had encouraged Jones to transfer because of the logjam ahead of him.
In fact, coaches offered McBride the chance to transfer to a smaller program where he would be able to play a couple of years ago but he declined.
That's how cluttered the position once seemed. Coaches were trying to thin the ranks.
Stoerner started 35 games and played almost every snap for three years, so it was hard for the guys behind him to stay hopeful that they would play.
"We always knew Clint was the leader of our team and that we were all in a wad behind him," McBride said. "We all did well in our own different areas but none were solid like he was all the way around, so we just tried to learn from him and do our best when our number was called."
Said Hampton, "There were so many of us that it was pretty hopeless."
Usually, the starter will receive up to three-fourths of the practice work and the backup will get most of the rest. The third-team quarterback might take a few snaps during the week. Everybody else watches or runs the opponent's plays on the scout team. Yet, every quarterback is expected to know the offense and the game plan and be able to answer questions at the position meetings.
Staying motivated can be a challenge.
"It's all mental, knowing you're going out there every day to stand for two hours knowing you're not going to do anything," McBride said of the logjam days. "You can run 10 wide receivers or four backs but you can really only run one quarterback."
One healthy one is all Arkansas needs, but it's probably also what the Razorbacks won't have until next season.

This article was published on Wednesday, November 8, 2000

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