vs Missouri State

[Coyote Fan]

There should be plenty of motivation for this game on Saturday. First of all the natural high of homecoming should be a natural source to get fired up over. What happened last year with Missouri State staging a miraculous rally to get the win should create a sense of motivation and is the reason I am picking the Coyotes to win this one. Possibly the biggest X-Factor in this game if Earl is named the starter is how the team will react to having a new signal caller.

I am picking a 27-14 win for the Red and White.

[94grad]

JG was on the SF sports radio show this afternoon and they asked him who the starter would be this weekend. His reply was "Yes". So, nothing official just yet. Although I fail to see how it can't be Earl.

[GoYotes]

I really think Earl deserves a shot to see what he can do. Whether right or wrong, many fans and students feel it is time for a change at QB and I believe naming Earl as QB would energize the fan base, both adult and student.

[Deleted]

Sept 30, 2013 17:18:24 GMT -6 94grad said:

JG was on the SF sports radio show this afternoon and they asked him who the starter would be this weekend. His reply was "Yes". So, nothing official just yet. Although I fail to see how it can't be Earl.

That's coach talk for we're not letting the other team know. Maybe the coaches really don't know but they won't make it public even though they most likely have an idea who will start.

[azsod73]

BY JEREMY HOECK
[e-mail]

Faced with a question over who quarterbacks the Coyotes moving forward, USD has chosen — like many college and pro coaching staffs do — to delay any final decision.

Coach Joe Glenn was rather noncommittal when asked Tuesday.

“We’ll play with the best guy we got at quarterback, at running back, and do the best we can.”

Does that mean a decision has been made on either Josh Vander Maten or Kevin Earl?

Not hardly.

All it means, to me, is that the USD staff realizes that a) yes, something needs to change, and fast, and b) it could actually have a small sense of a competitive advantage over Missouri State the longer it waits.

Heck, you might see the Coyotes wait until the very first play from scrimmage.

And really, why not wait? There’s really nothing to be gained from announcing mid-week that Vander Maten or Earl is the starter. Any such decision isn’t likely to sit well with certain parts of your fan base, but from a football perspective, you can keep a slight edge over your opponent. And then there would be the concern that another rough game Saturday would have you right back in the same position next Monday or Tuesday.

Such questions like, ‘Who’s the starter?’ or ‘When do you expect a decision?’ are ones us media types ask; a good quarterback controversy makes for interesting reporting — and when you cover a program that hasn’t won on the road since 2010 and is 2-13 over the last two years, you look for a new angle.

But again, from a football perspective, coaches would tell you that quarterbacks get too much of the credit for a win and too much of the blame for a loss.

When it comes to Vander Maten, yes, he has struggled through the air. He was 8-of-21 for 26 yards in last Saturday’s game at Western Illinois. Slice it any way you want, that’s not going to win you games. When your defense keeps things close like USD has against UC Davis, Northern Arizona and Western Illinois, your offense needs to come through.

The other side of the coin would be, it might not be all Vander Maten’s doing. As Glenn said Tuesday, you have to “catch better, throw better, block better; all the above.” Vander Maten isn’t responsible for blocking up front, he’s not responsible for receivers running crisp routes and finding space, he’s not responsible for dropped passes. The list could go on.

Clearly, though, the Coyotes could use a spark.

And whether or not that means Earl sees more time, I’m not sure. But it’s exactly why his name is being thrown around; why he saw some time in the fourth quarter in Macomb. If he gives the Coyotes a better chance to move the ball, then you’ll see him in there Saturday.

Personally, I doubt USD would ever try something like Yankton High School did with the three-quarterbacks-on-the-field-at-the-same-time gimmick. That won’t work against Missouri Valley defenses, teams will figure it out. But sure, I would think there could be some other options to spark the offense.

For now, as we sit here on Tuesday afternoon, the USD staff has some time to figure out what it wants to do. I highly doubt we’ll see a clear Vander Maten or Earl answer before Saturday’s kickoff. Because frankly, USD doesn’t need to make a decision right now.

If the Coyotes come out sluggish again Saturday under Vander Maten, then you’ve got a similar story next week. And you know that’s not what the coaches want to deal with every week.

October 1, 2013 Posted by jeremyhoeck | Breaking News, University of South Dakota | Leave a Comment