It can be said that in the state of Georgia this past weekend, Stephen Garcia and Kyle Parker arrived for two teams that desperately need solid quarterback play in the season ahead.
On Saturday night in Athens, Garcia was masterful in shaking life into what had been a moribund offense in the opening game. The redshirt sophomore kept Georgia’s defense honest with both his arms and his feet. In the air he threw for 311 yards and a couple of touchdowns and was inches away from completing a third for the winner in the closing seconds.
In Atlanta last Thursday night, the light suddenly came on for Parker in the second quarter en route to a 261 yard performance and three TD passes.
One common trait in each is that they both whip the ball in there when they need to and that’s a fundamental trait that’s often overlooked in good quarterback play.
Maybe more important to each team’s cause is that both quarterbacks brought some fire to their ballclubs. Garcia has clearly emerged as South Carolina’s offensive leader in his third year in the program after having his best off-season.
Parker, who battled for the starting job into August, comes across as more laid-back than his counterpart from the midlands but it appeared to me that he had his offense’s attention as they mounted a comeback from 24 points down to take a three-point lead early in the fourth quarter.
It will be virtually impossible for an individual rivalry to develop between the QBs over the next three years as they go head-to-head on a Saturday in late November.
Then again, many variables could, perhaps, make this year’s Clemson/Carolina showdown their only meeting as Parker could get an offer he can’t refuse from a major league team in June and have to bid football farewell.
On the other hand, if Garcia can put together a string of games against the rugged SEC as he did this past Saturday night the NFL could get him firmly on their radar.
In a perfect world, we’ll see each go head-to-head over the next three years. There have been similar match-ups in the history of the series (Rodney Williams versus Todd Ellis comes to mind) and I think it makes for better theater when there are individual stories that stand-out amid the intensity of the teams squaring off.
Let’s hope we get to see it.
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