Nothing Wrong with a Two-fer – From the Bird’s Nest

Haack or Nixon?  Nixon or Haack?

Ah, nothing like quarterback questions to fuel a discussion about a football team.

I've jokingly suggested in the past there's no one more popular on a football team than the backup quarterback.  And, generally speaking, that's true.

Last season when the Cajuns got off to a 1-3 start there were some (not many, but some) who suggested perhaps it was time to give Brooks Haack a shot at the starting job.  Now, that was never going to happen, but it didn't stop the debate.

And, now, the fans of the Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns  have REALLY got something to talk about.

After a quarterback battle deemed too close to call by many, Haack got the starting nod in the season opener at Kentucky.  And, his performance wasn't bad at all.  He led the Cajuns to a touchdown and probably should have led them to three.  WR Jamal Robinson fumbled in the red zone after a reception, and later, with the Cajuns at the one yard line, a false start and a sack turned seven points into three.  Haack did have an interception toward the end of the first half (which did not lead to points for Kentucky) and then had another on the last play of the game.  He completed 22-37 passes and scored a rushing touchdown.

Jalen Nixon came in with 3:40 left in the third quarter.  And, while he was in, the Cajuns scored three touchdowns.  Torrey Pierce had two of them, but Nixon himself had a 23 yard touchdown run.  He only threw the ball four times, but completed all four.  Why was the team so effective with Nixon in the game?  We can speculate, but my guess is Kentucky's defense, especially when Pierce was in the game, really expected Nixon to run it.  And that got Pierce some creases to get big yardage.  Elijah McGuire did not get good yardage with Nixon in and again, just a guess, but I think the WIldcats keyed on him regardless of who the quarterback was.

So, what do you do?

Haack or Nixon?  Nixon or Haack?

Head coach Mark Hudspeth has always said he'd like to have THE guy.  He said that in year one when we were asking, Gauthier or Masson.  Masson or Gauthier?  And, really, that question didn't get answered until the fourth game of the season.  This one might take even longer to decide.

Hudspeth lamented the issue with a two quarterback system:  Neither quarterback gets enough reps in practice.  Point taken.

But right now, Hud has the best of both worlds.

He has a quarterback who can throw it, and is athletic enough to run it and keep defenses honest.  He has a quarterback who has great feet and can run it, and is accurate enough to respect as a passer.  Both have good leadership skills.  And one supports the other.

There's an old cliche's (and like most cliche's, only sometimes accurate), if you have two quarterbacks, you don't have a quarterback.  When you deal with two struggling quarterbacks who have considerable deficiencies, that's very true (see Northwestern State's performance in their first game.)

But when you have two guys who are capable, and they bring something different to the table, two quarterbacks really aren't much of an issue.

My guess is sooner or later, someone will be "the guy" Hudspeth is looking for.  But, in the meantime, having two is a good thing.

Regardless of who takes the first snap.