Caruso transferring

[moonshine]

According to JP's twitter, he will be transferring to University of Delaware to pursue his MBA and playing for the Blue Hens. Congrats to JP on getting his degree and good luck at UD!

I'll reiterate what I said in the "Satterfield #1 coach" thread. It will be imperative for the coaching staff to utilize 3 (Sav. St., Texas St. & NMSU) of the first 5 games to build a comfortable lead that allows QB#2 and #3 to get some PT and gain experience on the collegiate level. JP was the only QB on the team with any significant PT behind Lamb.

[EastHallApp]

Agreed, though I think it's more likely they'll focus all those backup reps on whoever wins the #2 job, at least to begin.

I also raised this question on another thread, but I wonder if they might try to get the #2 guy a series or two per game before it gets out of hand. Whenever JP came in he was basically just running the ball and running out the clock; would be nice to get our future starter some reps when the game's in doubt.

Also, if the past couple years are any indication, I think we'll have plenty of games with comfortable leads in the second half of the season as well.

[WataugaMan]

If JP starts for Delaware I'll be following their progress the next two season. I'd be surprised if he didn't start. Would enjoy seeing JP in the FCS playoffs for sure!!

[bigCasu]

This happens every time we have a senior quarterback.

"Let's get the backup some reps in late games so he knows what he is doing next year."

Here is your reminder that Taylor Lamb got garbage time/split time in two games, Michigan and Campbell in his freshman season and has started every game since Southern Miss.

A lot can happen between December and August on the calendar.

[EastHallApp]

This happens every time we have a senior quarterback.

"Let's get the backup some reps in late games so he knows what he is doing next year."

Here is your reminder that Taylor Lamb got garbage time/split time in two games, Michigan and Campbell in his freshman season and has started every game since Southern Miss.

A lot can happen between December and August on the calendar.

And here is your reminder that we started that season 1-5, and while Lamb was far from the biggest problem, his improvement in the second half of the season was a factor in our turnaround.

We play UNCC week 2 and Southern Miss week 3 next year. We don't want to be using September to figure out which QB is game-ready.

Anyway, you can't always count on a young QB who's never played to get up to speed as quickly as Lamb did. In fact it's pretty rare.

[Boone Goon]

Unfortunately, this is a part of college football. Inspite of only one spot on the field, most programs recruit multiple QBs a year; betting on injuries, position change, or a transfer. If recruiting was a guarantee, you'd only a QB recruited every other year. We can look at our roster today and feel confident 2 of them won't finish as QBs at App.

With that said, I wish JP all the best, and will definitely cheer for him at Delaware; just like I'm pulling for David at Kennessaw State.

[AtlAppMan]

I wish the best for JP as he has been a true team player/App Man for our school.

I also hope as others have said on this thread that we can get some in game reps for our #2 and possibly #3 QBs. In the past I have been very critical of our team early in the year for losing focus/taking the foot off the pedal/etc. when we get ahead and not finishing strong. I have been criticized by some on this board that I some how expect too much or am never satisfied unless we blow out teams. The examples I use are GaSt, ODU, and Akron last year. We either jumped out to a few TD lead and then just didn't seem to run the rest of the game like a well oiled machine or let a team back into game. In all these cases and several in previous years, the results are we never get good game reps from some of the #2 and #3 players on our roster. I want all our #1, #2, and #3's to be laser focused when on the field and pound the opponent so we can put them away and let the next guy in line get on the field to do the same. That is one big reason I always harp on keeping the pedal to the metal especially in the first 3 quarters.

I would love to see JP win a NC for Delaware. I would consider it Apps gift to the Blue Hens.

[bigCasu]

This happens every time we have a senior quarterback.

"Let's get the backup some reps in late games so he knows what he is doing next year."

Here is your reminder that Taylor Lamb got garbage time/split time in two games, Michigan and Campbell in his freshman season and has started every game since Southern Miss.

A lot can happen between December and August on the calendar.

And here is your reminder that we started that season 1-5, and while Lamb was far from the biggest problem, his improvement in the second half of the season was a factor in our turnaround.

We play UNCC week 2 and Southern Miss week 3 next year. We don't want to be using September to figure out which QB is game-ready.

Anyway, you can't always count on a young QB who's never played to get up to speed as quickly as Lamb did. In fact it's pretty rare.

East, I don't need to be reminded that we started 1-5. Our improvements late in that year, IMO, revolved around the defense.

The rosters in 2014 and 2018 will be quite different looking from a depth and experience standpoint. I also don't believe the fourth quarter of any game where we are ahead comfortably is the time to see who can start in 9-12 months.

With our defense and running game it will be much easier for "2018 starting quarterback" to adjust than it was for Lamb in 2014.

And my previous post wasn't directed at you. Its a common theme on this board every time it comes up.

[EastHallApp]

I agree with you about the questionable value of garbage time action, Big C. That's why I raised the question of whether the backup might get a series or two earlier in the game. We know they'll play when we've got the game in hand - that always happens.

As far as the 2014 turnaround, again, I don't think anyone would suggest Lamb was the biggest problem with the early losses. However:

First four starts (0-4):

7.47 yards per attempt
7/6 TD/INT
4.7 yards per rush

(And those numbers were bolstered by a huge game vs. FCS Liberty)

Next six starts (6-0):

8.97 yards per attempt
9/3 TD/INT
6.6 yards per rush

One other point: While 2018 and beyond is the biggest concern here, this is potentially relevant for 2017 too. Lamb could go down at any time with an injury, as Moose reluctantly mentioned. Should that happen, it would be nice if his replacement had a few meaningful snaps under his belt.

[Saint3333]

I hope I'm wrong, but I think we'll get to see QB2 in the fourth quarter vs. UGA.

If not we'll definitely get to see him in the second half week two.

I think we'll all be pleasantly surprised. Lamb's tangibles probably aren't as good as a couple of QBs on this roster, now intangibles may be a different story (we just don't know at this point).

C brings up a good point that the next QB will inherit a much better (and deeper) OL, RB, and defense than Lamb did.

[moonshine]

I also don't believe the fourth quarter of any game where we are ahead comfortably is the time to see who can start in 9-12 months.

With our defense and running game it will be much easier for "2018 starting quarterback" to adjust than it was for Lamb in 2014.

It's not necessarily seeing who will start the following season. Getting the young guys real game experience, even in some mop up situations, is beneficial to the team in case Lamb gets hurt later in the season as well as letting the young QB's get use to the game speed at the college level.

As for the 2018 run game, you seem to be more optimistic than I am about replacing the right side of the line. Nunn and Gossett have been road graders. Those will be big shoes to fill, literally. If MacCauley cracks the starting line up, that'll be 3 guys along the OL Clark will need to replace come 2018.

If this team is not able to get some younger guys along the OL and at QB some decent experience this season, preferably while playing with a comfortable lead and less pressure, they'll have to learn on the fly next year. I really want revenge against USM, who App should've beat in Lamb's first start as well as taking out UNCC. I think winning those match-ups will prove to be a more difficult task with less experienced guys, hence wanting the coaches to get the young players PT early on this season.

[APPdiesel]

This happens every time we have a senior quarterback.

"Let's get the backup some reps in late games so he knows what he is doing next year."

Here is your reminder that Taylor Lamb got garbage time/split time in two games, Michigan and Campbell in his freshman season and has started every game since Southern Miss.

A lot can happen between December and August on the calendar.

Except normally when we have a senior QB it's "he's struggling, we need to give #2 a shot". And in the case of Kam, Jamal, and Deandre those guys did legitimately struggle at times (or had injury issues). Giving our #2 and 3 reps in this situation is simply seasoning the backups.

[firemoose]

The majority of my point(s) were not in prep for next year, but for next snap. I may have said it reluctantly but that was why I brought it up. We've been very lucky with Lamb, especially with the offense we run. It might not be the all the time triple option or the full spread like we ran with AE and others but it does call for a mobile QB who is a threat to run. This is football. Injuries have happened from time to time. Game ending, season ending, forever ending (I can relate) can happen on the next snap. It doesn't matter what class your QB is, your backups need to be ready to go in and take over for the rest of the season and beyond at every snap.

There's a reason every coach at every level, all the way to the pros, wants to get reps for the 2's and 3's. Because the next snap they can quickly become 1's and 2's at every position on the field. Simple as that.

[WVAPPeer]

And Moose, if I am not mistaken, it seems our coaches' philosophy is to rotate as many players as possible during the course of the game, whether we are way ahead or not? - Of course, QB has really not been one of those positions ---

[huskie3]

Do most of our 2's go against the opposite 1's in practice? That should give them some good snaps at very close to game speed.

[Rekdiver]

Hate to hear the news. Simply, I understand and wish him well.

[firemoose]

And Moose, if I am not mistaken, it seems our coaches' philosophy is to rotate as many players as possible during the course of the game, whether we are way ahead or not? - Of course, QB has really not been one of those positions ---

Ideally the goal of any 85 scholarship program is to have a two deep with very little dropoff and versatile 3's who are pushing for the two deep and can also be plugged into most positions within a group as a just in case, plus you also have the goal of having enough depth where if you miss on a position group in a recruiting year you can make it up the next year without having a hole appear a couple of years down the road. Does it really work that way? Not even for most of the P5's. But you can develop that depth at some groups and App has done that with a couple. We have more work to do on the rest but we're a lot further along than most programs at our level and given how short a time we've been FBS that's not too bad.

To answer your question, yes, our staff wants to rotate often because it keeps guys fresher and you see the results come into play late in games especially. Hopefully we'll be able to do it with the OL more this year as our rotation last year was very lacking and it's why we saw starters playing late in games. NW had more options on the DL and we saw a good rotation there along with the DB's. It also gave us the players available for Scot to install the new dime and penny packages later in the season (3-3-5 and 3-2-6) to try and help slow down the quick passing attacks that we had issues with earlier. Not usually part of the base 3-4, once we get the guys up to speed and playing on instinct instead of having to think it through then these will give us different looks to show teams. It should help.

No, QB is not normally part of the rotation. Usually the starter is the starter but we picked up two QB's last year for two reasons (one a year is the norm). One was David leaving. But two was that we were looking at adding some wrinkles to our O and that was the main reason. Not going to go into the actual wrinkles on the open board but there was a reason why we took two. We'll see how it plays out.

Bottom line. You want to get your backups as many reps as possible in live game play. Practice is still practice and live game is just different, especially for the QB's who, for the most part, will be in red jerseys in practice (although we didn't put Thomas or Huesman in red for spring and they took some hits). Game speed is game speed and the only way to learn it is to do it. You want the 2's and 3's to get time because as I said earlier, they are one snap away from becoming 1's and 2's.

[JakeASU]

Understand why he left and I wish Caruso nothing but the best. It's time for the next man up and to get him some serious reps ASAP.

[asu66]

According to JP's twitter, he will be transferring to University of Delaware to pursue his MBA and playing for the Blue Hens. Congrats to JP on getting his degree and good luck at UD!

I'll reiterate what I said in the "Satterfield #1 coach" thread. It will be imperative for the coaching staff to utilize 3 (Sav. St., Texas St. & NMSU) of the first 5 games to build a comfortable lead that allows QB#2 and #3 to get some PT and gain experience on the collegiate level. JP was the only QB on the team with any significant PT behind Lamb.

I've been both expecting and dreading this development since learning that JP got his degree two years early. Godspeed, JP. You'll always be a Mountaineer. Go Hens!

[bigCasu]

And Moose, if I am not mistaken, it seems our coaches' philosophy is to rotate as many players as possible during the course of the game, whether we are way ahead or not? - Of course, QB has really not been one of those positions ---

Here is my exact point. You can never replicate the in game situation for a QB like you can any other position. The QB touches the ball every play, and must be on his game every single play.