Four battle in spring practice for QB position

Spring is the season of rebirth, and the football team is hopeful that after a strong spring season — despite several notable absences due to injury and graduation — it is prepared to rebound from its painfully disappointing 5-5 2004 campaign.

The biggest focus of the practices was filling in the suddenly gaping holes on offense — quarterback Matt Verbit, tailbacks Jon Veach and Brandon Benson and fullback Joel Mancl headline the graduating seniors who were responsible for most of the Tigers' production last year.

At quarterback, a pair of freshmen, Bill Foran and Greg Mroz, and a pair of sophomores, Jeff Terrell and Chris Lee, are all in the running for the starting spot, with fierce, but friendly, competition driving them throughout the three weeks of spring practice.

The two freshmen may bring the most talent, but are less experienced and more prone to error than the sophomores. Foran is quick and loves to run, a talent that earned him playing time at wide receiver last season, but head coach Roger Hughes has complained that Foran may be just a little too quick to take it himself, leading to potentially risky situations. Mroz isn't as familiar with the offense as the sophomores, but is considered to have the strongest arm. While Terrell has been making steady improvement through the spring, Lee hurt his knee, and awaits an MRI for details.

"I think the competition makes these guys better. These guys are competitors," Hughes said. "Once I look at the tape and make the whole evaluation of spring, I may say to them, look, this guy is ahead of another. But we may not make the final decision until after the first, maybe even the Yale scrimmage, about ten days into fall camp."

No matter who ends up winning the job, Hughes said they'll be more likely to run the option than Verbit was last year. Hughes also said that more than one may see significant playing time.

The issue of who will be controlling the ground game is equally pressing. One of the biggest surprises of the spring for Hughes was the performance of freshman Rob Toresco. Listed at six feet, 205 pounds, he impressed the coaches in both practices and games this spring, and could see action at both tailback and fullback. Also in the running to start at tailback is sophomore Cleo Kirkland.

"I thought Robbie Toresco had a great game, we can use him at both fullback and tailback. Cleo had some nice runs. Cleo has been playing a lot tougher than he had been, so don't count him out. We've been working him very hard, and he's had a great spring," Hughes said.

Like the quarterbacks, Kirkland, Toresco, and the other potential starting running backs are focused on the success of the team over their individual pursuits.

"I feel a lot of people are talking about the quarterback battle and the running back battle, because those are the two spots that have to be filled this year," Kirkland said. "But I don't think it's necessarily who plays that's important, it's about the team mentality as a whole. So for instance, if I do start next year, I'm going to be helping the other guys get better, and we all want to help each other get better."

Other side of the ball

But while much of the offensive backfield for next year is in doubt, the rest of the team is fairly solid. The defense, despite losing All-Ivy linebacker Zak Keasey, sees eight returning starters, and the offensive line, already one of the strongest parts of the team, will be bolstered by the return of junior Paul Lyons.

"If you look at the team that has the most seniors starting, generally you can predict the Ivy champion," Hughes said. "And we've got a number of senior starters coming back, especially on offensive line, and now Paul Lyons coming back, who didn't play last year. Defensively we have eight starters coming back. So hopefully we'll get a couple breaks and have a good chance [in the Ivy League]."

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The defense, which figures again to be the Tigers' strength, was shorthanded through much of the spring, as several defensive backs — junior Jay McCareins and sophomores J.J. Artis and Tim Strickland — were sidelined by injuries.

"We're being cautious with [injuries]. We want to make sure that they're healthy for the fall, and we want to make sure that when you have an injury, it doesn't recur," Hughes said. "It gives us a chance to look at the young guys, see what they can do, and build some quality depth there."

Looking at the young guys is what spring practices are all about, after all, and like every team, every spring, the Tigers are optimistic. While they've lost some experience, one could imagine worse problems for a football team than having to choose from too many quarterbacks. Spring practice is over now, as the players prepare for reading period and finals, but the Tigers' ten-week summer camp — the final proving ground before next fall — camp starts in early June.