With spring football less than a week from kicking off, another quarterback competition is underway at the University of Miami. The names and faces are the same, but growth, maturity and paths of the two participants are a bit different.
Jorge Milian of the Palm Beach Post penned a piece on Stephen Morris this morning, talking about the change in the incoming sophomore since his redshirt was burned in the second half of last season’s loss at Virginia.
Since stepping foot on campus last year, Morris has packed up upwards of thirty pounds and has gone from unknown back up to Jacory Harris, to possibly the present and future of what was once known as Quarterback U.
“Last spring was just about getting accustomed to college football and the game speed,” said Morris. “This spring it’s more about getting adjusted to the new playbook, making good decisions, being fast and taking the role of being a lead quarterback instead of just a freshman.”
Morris won’t predict who will earn the starting job – which could be named soon after the Spring Game on April 16th – but he did let the college football world know that last year was merely an ‘introduction’ to what he’s all about.
For those who missed that intro, Morris shone in the second half against the Cavaliers, almost erasing an early fourth quarter 24-0 deficit, rallying the Canes to within five.
A week later Morris hurled a game-winning touchdown pass to Leonard Hankerson, giving Miami the 26-20 come from behind victory against Maryland. The following week, Morris again looked crisp in a lopsided 35-10 win at Georgia Tech. Smart decisions, zip on the ball, pocket presence and moxie all on display in the then-true freshman’s second career start.
Harris earned the start in the Sun Bowl after Randy Shannon was fired and the-offensive line coach Jeff Stoutland took over as interim head coach. Miami fell 33-17 against Notre Dame, with Harris going 4-of-7 for 37 yards – all three ‘incompletions’ resulting in interceptions – before giving way to Morris early in the second quarter.
While with Canes’ defense faltered and the Irish were content sitting on a 30-3 early fourth quarter lead, Morris still outperformed his counterpart with a 282-yard performance and two touchdowns on a 22-for-33 showing.
Though Milian’s article didn’t touch on Harris, it should be noted that the senior quarterback has earned a black jersey in practice and is said to have experienced his share of change this off-season, looking to right last year’s wrongs. While some fans have given up on No. 12, Harris hasn’t given up on himself and this new coaching staff has stated that both kids have as good as a shot at winning the starting gig as the other.
For the first time in forever, Miami has two quality kids going into a quarterback competition and finally has a coaching staff ready to fairly judge both. Tune in Saturday to see things getting underway.