The Trib’s Dean Kovacevic pretty much nails it down with regards to Tino Sunseri in 2010 and the overall “meh” feeling most fans had towards him.
Yes, he threw for 2,572 yards, with a 64.5 completion percentage and 16 touchdowns, respectable figures all. But … well, there was something missing, and it wasn’t easily quantifiable.
He just didn’t look like a big-time Division I quarterback.
I saw a 6-foot-2 kid playing much smaller, getting dragged down by one-handed grasps. I saw a passing form little different than when he was at Central Catholic, resulting in a lot of wobbly flicks. And in the one that maybe sticks the most in the craw, I saw a blue-chip receiver in Jon Baldwin go underutilized without the deep ball.
You can talk about the perception/belief that he was not a leader at the position that demands it. That he behaved arrogantly and petulantly towards the coaches. That it was fostered by being handed the starting position last spring without any competition — other than what was claimed by the coaches.
The article itself is a positive one on Sunseri. It is encouraging, and I am hoping it isn’t just an optimistic preseason puff piece. He just played smaller. Like the games, the moments were too big for him. That’s part of the perception that Sunseri will have to overcome this year. Well, that’s not true. Fans will have to overcome that perception.
Sunseri is in a different offense. He has different coaches, and seems to have responded well to them, what they are teaching, and the system itself. By all accounts his confidence is much higher and his game looks a lot better. We will all start getting answers in 8 days.
Having said that … I can clearly remember Tino having that ‘deer in the headlight’ look vs Miami and ND (1st half) last year.
Lastly, while I agree that Bostick should have been given a chance to compete last spring, note that the same thing seemed to happen this past spring … Tino was ordained the starter from Day 1 even though a new system was being implemented and 2 highly thought-of QBs were in the wings.
The line was why Dion didnt start out strong and Ray did. Graham hits the hole at top speed, Dion waits for the blocks to develop. Last year for the 1st 6 games the blocks didnt develop and the holes collapsed before he hit.
I watched the Tulsa-Houston game last night on TV, ugly. It’s clear that Tulsa really didnt good athletes on both sides of the ball outside a handful of guys.
Tom Brady’s first full season in the NFL:
264-413 2843 yds, 18 TD 12 INT
2nd season
373-601 3764 yds 28 TDs 14 INT
Peton Manning – 1st season
326-575 3739 yds 26 TDs 28 INT
2nd season
331-533 4135 yds 26 TDs 15 INT
Bill Stull – 1st season
188-330 2356 yds 9 TDs 10 INT
2nd season
209-321 2633 yds 21 TD 8 INT
As you can see there is always a big jump in efficiency, less INTs and most of the time in yds and TDs of a second year or more experienced quarterback. I think Tino will be much better this year and would’ve been better this year even with Cignetti and Wannstedt. The intagibles such as reading defenses, how to prepare for an opponent, how to handle the huddle, etc. will all be familiar to Tino and I think he will have a very productive efficient year at the QB position. For support of my argument see the three QBs listed above.
~Wannstache
But i do agree with you, in general.
Many schools he wrote off on a him, and not that easy. Clemson, FSU, Georgia Tech, Louisville, for example, allthough in-state schools with other SEC teams, we don’t know the politics of the state, and one of them could very well tell UF, UGA, UK, “you’re voting to let ‘so and so’ in etc. etc.
Also, don’t believe a word from the Va Tech a.d. saying “we have no desire”.
In the end, I think it will be TAM and Va. Tech.
Joined at the hip with UVA will only go so far, just like TAM joined at Texas’ hip.
Wow, Va.Tech would really be bastards, crying to get into ACC, then bolting, if indeed that would happen.
BnG, you are speaking of the booing, if he does poorly, I assume.
I mean, if he comes out and lights things up, I don’t see any booing at all.
If he comes out and throws three right to the cornerbacks, ya, maybe there will be.
It’ll be up to him, if he plays well, no sweat, if he shows no improvment, ya, people will be calling for someone else.
I’m hoping he comes out fantastic.
And, Tino will do just fine.
HTP
Can’t wait for next Saturday!!!!!!!
For that matter, we should see the entire BE improve offensively this year, since going into last season, Rutgers’ QB Tom Savage, a sophomore, was the most experienced QB in the league. This also could have been a big reason why the BE was so putrid on offense last year (as pointed out in Chas’ post yesterday.)
All i was trying to say is that sometimes people don’t have anything more than they’ve already shown you, Brady and Manning obviously had a lot more.
But the fact is that there almost always is a big jump in production from year one to year two and I expect somewhat of the same with Sunseri this season, factoring in the new offense.
As I said in some spring articles, I don’t expect great QBing from him but good solid play.
I was a very vocal opponent of DW not opening up the QB competition in 2010 after Bill Stull left. But, even though I’d have liked to see more competition this season, I believe there is a big difference between a returning starter at the position (2011) and a completely open position (2010).
Had Sunseri stunk out the joint and lost us games last season I’d be more upset, but he really didn’t. He gave us, save good production in two mid-season games against pretty crappy BE teams, basically average QB play. But it was something to build on and I’m sure one of the things the staff looked at was, with all the other sturm un drang and drastic changes the team went through, a change at QB going to help or hinder? Not saying that’s why Sunseri is the starter but I’d think that may have been a consideration of the new incoming staff.
“The 1st half of the year, the line was a complete mess, thats why Tino had a deer in headlights look. I sat and watched the line in the Miami game and almost every play there were multiple guys flying into the backfield
The line was why Dion didnt start out strong and Ray did. Graham hits the hole at top speed, Dion waits for the blocks to develop. Last year for the 1st 6 games the blocks didnt develop and the holes collapsed before he hit.”
Comment by BnG 08.26.11 @ 11:11 am
The line was a mess until they got Gaskins out of there and moved Gibbs to tackle and Nix back to Guard. Of course the schedule became easier at the same time, as the Utah, Miami & ND games were history. Tino again had the ‘deer in the headlights look’ against WVU, so one would have to take into account the competition. Yes and he and Pitt looked good against Syracuse & Rutgers. Big deal. But I do remember a Miami asst. saying they crowded the line of scrimmage on defense to stop the run since they saw little accuracy on the part of our QB. Our QB is not a pro-style offense QB since he had real trouble with anything over 20 yards being on target and had real trouble with the down & out.
With that being said: this new offense and this new coach is a real blessing for him. As these spread type offenses don’t require really great QB’s to make them work. Just look at all the Texas Tech QB’s who have put up huge numbers in the last decade, who either weren’t even drafted by the NFL or were complete NFL busts. Or think of Colt Brennan of Hawaii a couple years back who holds 30 NCAA passing records and the single season record of 58 TD passes. 58 ! He was drafted in the 6th Round by the NFL, released by two teams and was playing in the UFL before his team was disbanded.
No other UFL team claimed him. Get the point.
Ever since Palko left we’ve always been talking about how great THE NEXT QB is going to be, we’ll find a great one sooner or later.
In other news, Chad Voytik’s 1st senior HS game didnt go so well. was something like 11-24 120 yds and 2 ints.