04-17-2005, 07:45 PM
The big decision
Huskie drills feature four-way battle at quarterback
By Rick Armstrong
STAFF WRITER
DEKALB — Repetition is the thing. Do it over and over and over. Until it's right. Until it's second nature.
The four young quarterbacks could be doing a dance step as they work — in unison — under the watchful eyes of John Bond on a recent spring morning at empty Huskie Stadium on the campus of Northern Illinois University.
Lined in a row, all four bend their knees and extend the football in front of them as though receiving the snap from an imaginary center. Backpedaling together, they pivot and turn to the left as though moving down a line of scrimmage behind a wall of blockers, then extend the ball as if to pitch it to a trailing running back on an option play.
Bond, the team's offensive coordinator/quarterbacks coach, studies every move, every detail, down to the positioning of their hands on the ball. Do it the same. Do it right.
Through this drill and others, Bond watches intently, sometimes joined by head coach Joe Novak.
They're evaluating the quartet — redshirt sophomore Phil Horvath (Naperville Central), redshirt freshman Zach Ullrich (Wheaton North) and true freshmen Britt Davis (Riverside-Brookfield) and Dan Nicholson (Chicago St. Rita) — in this, one of 15 spring practice sessions the team is allowed under NCAA rules. They end with the team's annual Spring Game set for Saturday, April 23rd at noon.
One of the young quarterbacks will get the call to succeed three-year starter Josh Haldi when the Huskies take the field Sept. 3rd at Michigan Stadium in Ann Arbor. Who will it be, is the biggest question facing Novak and his staff.
"That's not sure and we won't know at the end of spring (practices)," the coach said before one of the team's three 7:30 a.m. practices last week. "There are not enough snaps (to determine a starter in the spring). ... In our first scrimmage, each kid got about 20 plays. I've got a better idea, but still, I don't know.
"That thing will go, I think, right up to the week before we play Michigan."
If he had to play this week, Novak admits he would start Horvath, who was thrust into action early last season when Haldi was injured. Horvath took over for the injured Haldi after the first series of the season opener at Maryland and was driving toward a potential game-winning score when the team ran out of time.
He started the next three games and went 2-1, including a big win over Bowling Green, before Haldi returned. The 6-foot-2, 200-pound Horvath completed 72 of 123 passes for 954 yards, six TDs and seven interceptions.
Starting with road games against two Big Ten foes (at Northwestern Sept. 10th) makes for a tough assigment on whoever gets the job.
"Even if it's Phil, he hasn't played that much," said Novak. "And to open there, that's a tough way to go. That's what it is. ... It will be a great experience, but the kids are gonna have to grow up fast."
Ullrich saw limited action in just three games last season as the team's No. 3 QB, getting only 16 snaps. The true freshmen were redshirted but got good reviews from their work on the scout team each week.
Davis (6-4, 188), was a two-time all-state player who passed for 7,700 career yards and 90 TDs with 21 interceptions on two state playoff teams that utilized the five-receiver spread offense. His escapability and speed make him an intriguing possibility.
By comparison, Nicholson passed for 3,120 yards in his two years as a starter but he put up Haldi-like numbers that were what attracted Novak's attention: 3-to-1 TD-interception ratio (34-to-11). The veteran coach stresses taking care of the ball.
"A lot of times, especially with the young kids at all positions, during these 15 days it's kind of helter-skelter," said Novak. "And then the summer comes and they come back in the fall and all that stuff has had a chance to settle in and a lot of times you see a great big jump from what they've done in the spring."
4/16/05
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Huskie drills feature four-way battle at quarterback
By Rick Armstrong
STAFF WRITER
DEKALB — Repetition is the thing. Do it over and over and over. Until it's right. Until it's second nature.
The four young quarterbacks could be doing a dance step as they work — in unison — under the watchful eyes of John Bond on a recent spring morning at empty Huskie Stadium on the campus of Northern Illinois University.
Lined in a row, all four bend their knees and extend the football in front of them as though receiving the snap from an imaginary center. Backpedaling together, they pivot and turn to the left as though moving down a line of scrimmage behind a wall of blockers, then extend the ball as if to pitch it to a trailing running back on an option play.
Bond, the team's offensive coordinator/quarterbacks coach, studies every move, every detail, down to the positioning of their hands on the ball. Do it the same. Do it right.
Through this drill and others, Bond watches intently, sometimes joined by head coach Joe Novak.
They're evaluating the quartet — redshirt sophomore Phil Horvath (Naperville Central), redshirt freshman Zach Ullrich (Wheaton North) and true freshmen Britt Davis (Riverside-Brookfield) and Dan Nicholson (Chicago St. Rita) — in this, one of 15 spring practice sessions the team is allowed under NCAA rules. They end with the team's annual Spring Game set for Saturday, April 23rd at noon.
One of the young quarterbacks will get the call to succeed three-year starter Josh Haldi when the Huskies take the field Sept. 3rd at Michigan Stadium in Ann Arbor. Who will it be, is the biggest question facing Novak and his staff.
"That's not sure and we won't know at the end of spring (practices)," the coach said before one of the team's three 7:30 a.m. practices last week. "There are not enough snaps (to determine a starter in the spring). ... In our first scrimmage, each kid got about 20 plays. I've got a better idea, but still, I don't know.
"That thing will go, I think, right up to the week before we play Michigan."
If he had to play this week, Novak admits he would start Horvath, who was thrust into action early last season when Haldi was injured. Horvath took over for the injured Haldi after the first series of the season opener at Maryland and was driving toward a potential game-winning score when the team ran out of time.
He started the next three games and went 2-1, including a big win over Bowling Green, before Haldi returned. The 6-foot-2, 200-pound Horvath completed 72 of 123 passes for 954 yards, six TDs and seven interceptions.
Starting with road games against two Big Ten foes (at Northwestern Sept. 10th) makes for a tough assigment on whoever gets the job.
"Even if it's Phil, he hasn't played that much," said Novak. "And to open there, that's a tough way to go. That's what it is. ... It will be a great experience, but the kids are gonna have to grow up fast."
Ullrich saw limited action in just three games last season as the team's No. 3 QB, getting only 16 snaps. The true freshmen were redshirted but got good reviews from their work on the scout team each week.
Davis (6-4, 188), was a two-time all-state player who passed for 7,700 career yards and 90 TDs with 21 interceptions on two state playoff teams that utilized the five-receiver spread offense. His escapability and speed make him an intriguing possibility.
By comparison, Nicholson passed for 3,120 yards in his two years as a starter but he put up Haldi-like numbers that were what attracted Novak's attention: 3-to-1 TD-interception ratio (34-to-11). The veteran coach stresses taking care of the ball.
"A lot of times, especially with the young kids at all positions, during these 15 days it's kind of helter-skelter," said Novak. "And then the summer comes and they come back in the fall and all that stuff has had a chance to settle in and a lot of times you see a great big jump from what they've done in the spring."
4/16/05
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