“Yeah, the QB and center, right up the gut.”

Maybe that quarterback race is even tighter than we’ve thought.

Richt has had quarterback competitions before. There was 2006, it was Matthew Stafford, the true freshman and early enrollee, competing with Joe Cox, Joe Tereshinski III and Blake Barnes. In 2010, it was Aaron Murray, Zach Mettenburger and Logan Gray. But this, Richt said, is “by far” the closest competition.

So he suspects it will last into August preseason practice.

“With the amount of transition, learning going on, I’m not certain we’ll be able to make that determination at that point. I’m not sitting here saying we’re going to have to name a number one at the end of spring,” Richt said. “I’m not think that’s going to be the case or that’s a big goal of ours. The big thing is to give these guys opportunities and see how they handle it and evaluate and try to make that determination when we get there.”

Maybe it’s due in part to the strangeness of having an open quarterback competition for the first time in several seasons, but it’s strange to hear Richt talk like that.  Not bad, necessarily, but definitely different.  And maybe it’s due in part to having a new set of eyes to share in the evaluation of the position.  The general consensus was that had Mike Bobo stayed, Ramsey would have been the likely starter, but that’s not where they’re at anymore.

In any case, that’s the hand that’s been dealt.  Along with finding a replacement for David Andrews, you’ve got a situation that’s going to call for giving a lot of opportunities, that’s for sure.

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Victory usually comes down to who holds the chalk last.

Here’s a stat from last year to ponder:

Of the 15 fastest-paced offenses in 2014, nine managed to blow double digit leads they held in the 2nd half of the football game. This is a huge hole in tempo offensive strategy preventing it from totally catching on at bigger universities who prefer to impose their will with man-ball.

If you don’t want to play man-ball, what to do?  One option might be to create a special team for what Boyd refers to as four-minute situations.

At these times an offense only wants to have run options and not give the defense the chance to dictate a pass, perhaps even putting someone on the field besides the Quarterback to execute the package. This should be fairly straightforward for most college teams, who generally have former option quarterbacks all over their offense and defense. If not, you still see teams employ their better DL as lead blockers on the goal line, why not embrace a similar philosophy to get the best players on the field to protect a 4th quarter lead?

If you have a team with moderate depth that runs hurry-up ball, I can see why that would be an attractive option.  But if you coach one of those man-ball teams that runs a successful offense, what’s the point of going HUNH in the first place?

Sunday morning buffet

A tidbit here, a tidbit there…

• Something to keep an eye on with this season’s Kentucky football team:  “From that highly touted 2014 signing class, ranked No. 17 in the nation, UK was able to redshirt 16 players…”  That includes redshirting every offensive linemen the current staff has signed.
• Bill Connelly ponders what the future of football analytics will bring.
• Marc Weiszer Fletcher Page  has a nice piece on this year’s Paul Oliver Network gathering.
• Les Miles thinks Matt Womack signing with Alabama is enough of a punishment for his program.
• So Andy Schwarz is being hired to produce the new report evaluating the report that led to the shutdown of the UAB football program?  That’s beyond interesting, both for what he’ll have to say about UAB’s decision as well as shining a light on college athletic departments’ bookkeeping practices.
• Here’s another roundup of questions as SEC spring practices get underway.
• She may be a little girl, but she manages to hit on the essence of being a Georgia Tech fan in one sentence.
• Speaking of Tech, the computer hacker has been sentenced, but “The district attorney said he believes Pickren entered a guilty plea, meaning failure to complete the program would bring the student back to court for further sentencing.”  So you’re saying there’s a chance?