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http://news.enquirer.com/apps/pbcs.dll/a...7/1062/SPT

Wess gives UC another option
Adds running element at QB
BY BILL KOCH | ENQUIRER STAFF WRITER

David Wess has never thrown a pass in a college game. He has spent only 20 days in practice at quarterback, and the coaches say he doesn't fully understand the offense.

Because he has so many factors working against him, he will not be the University of Cincinnati's starting quarterback when the Bearcats open their season Sept. 2 against Eastern Kentucky.

But he should be.

UC head coach Mark Dantonio made it clear after Tuesday's scrimmage at the Higher Ground Conference Center in West Harrison, Ind., that he would choose the starter from between senior Nick Davila, who now appears to have the edge, and sophomore Dustin Grutza, last year's starter.

But Wess, a 6-foot-2, 215-pound sophomore from Columbus, can do what neither Davila nor Grutza can. He has the speed and the acceleration to be as much of a running threat as he is a passing threat.

Wess, a high school quarterback before he was moved to the defensive secondary last year, is back at his natural position and playing as if he had never left it.

He completed five of seven passes Tuesday for 87 yards and one touchdown. He also ran for an apparent 40-yard touchdown that the coaches later took away from him because they ruled that he would have been down if the defense had been allowed full contact on a quarterback.

"It's a good situation," Dantonio said of UC's quarterback position. "I think we've got two guys that played pretty well and are game functional right now. Then we've got another guy who, maybe, as time goes on, maybe he can get in the mix.

"But the learning curve is there. It's pretty drastic. These guys understand. We'd have to change our offense around a little bit (for Wess)."

So change it.

This wasn't an offensive juggernaut last season under Grutza. UC finished seventh in the eight-team Big East Conference in total offense.

The Beacats averaged 323.4 yards and 17.4 points per game last season.

They were predictable and not very entertaining, producing only nine plays of 30 yards or more the entire season.

Wess has the potential to light up an offense that could use a little luster. Even without a thorough understanding of the offense, more often than not he moves his teammates down the field during practice.

Because of his athletic ability, his presence on a team with an unproven offensive line would allow UC to have one more weapon in its arsenal. It would force linebackers and defensive backs to concern themselves with Wess' running threat, creating openings in the passing game for the Bearcats' talented receivers.

And because Wess is only a sophomore, he has plenty of time to grow with the program.

If Davila is the starting quarterback - as it appears he will be - he'll have only one year to run the offense. That means the Bearcats would have to start over again next year with their third different starting quarterback in three years.

Why not let Wess get his feet wet this season so he's ready to go next year when the Bearcats will be a junior and senior-dominated team with a better chance to compete in the Big East?

Of course it would be a huge risk putting Wess at quarterback because of his inexperience and tenuous grasp of the offense. Davila and Grutza both are safer choices.

But this is a program screaming for attention in a market dominated by the NFL Bengals, a program that has to entertain as well as win if it's going to attract fans.

This is a program that needs to take a chance now and again.

http://news.enquirer.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060823/SPT0101/608230347/1064/SPT

Davila tops QB race
UC notebook

BY BILL KOCH | ENQUIRER STAFF WRITER

The pendulum in the University of Cincinnati quarterback derby has swung over to Nick Davila.

The 6-foot-3 senior from Alta Loma, Calif., completed 10 of 18 passes for 94 yards and one touchdown Tuesday in the Bearcats' intrasquad scrimmage at the Higher Ground Conference Center in West Harrison, Ind. He was intercepted once.

"Nick Davila is much, much better than he was last year because he has a grasp of the offense," UC head coach Mark Dantonio said. "I think he's making better decisions. He knows where to go with the ball and he gets it there quickly."

But sophomore Dustin Grutza, the incumbent starter, isn't conceding the position yet. Grutza completed 10 of 15 passes for 180 yards and one touchdown, a 73-yard strike to redshirt freshman Jared Martin in the two-minute drill near the end of the scrimmage. He was intercepted once.

Dantonio said he would make the decision by today or Thursday, but for now it appears Davila has the lead.

"I'm a lot more comfortable in the offense," Davila said. "Once you learn the offense and you know it like the back of your hand, you're just playing ball like you're in the backyard of your house. There's a lot of difference. Obviously, I can see it. The coaches can see it, too."

Freshman Jacob Ramsey was the Bearcats' leading rusher with 41 yards on six carries, followed by Butler Benton (seven carries, 39 yards), Bradley Glatthaar (10 for 37) and Greg Moore (six for 28).

Martin was the leading receiver with 93 yards on three catches, including the 73-yard touchdown. Dominick Goodman caught three passes for 43 yards and has impressed the coaches with his ability to catch the ball in traffic.

INJURY REPORT: Linebacker Corey Smith continues to be sidelined by a pulled hamstring he suffered Aug. 14. He did not play in the scrimmage.

"He practiced over the weekend," Dantonio said. "But his hamstring continues to bother him. We're trying to get him in shape to play.

"We'll see how he comes, but thus far he's been unable to make it through the whole practice and we don't want to re-pull it."

If Smith, a second-team all-Big East performer last year as a freshman, is out for an extended period of time, it would be a huge loss to the UC defense.

"We're moving people around, trying to get it figured out," Dantonio said.

Running back Mike Daniels left the scrimmage with a knee injury and watched the end of it on crutches. Defensive back Antoine Horton is out for about a week with an ankle injury.

Not 1, but 2 UC football articles in one day from the same paper! Great job by Bill Koch.

Very interesting QB developments for he Bearcats. UC appears to have QB choices, so the depth at the position is an asset now instead of a liability.

Plus they have better and quicker receivers, and the offensive line seems to be gelling. There is hope for this season yet, if they can come out of the first 4 games at no worse than 2-2.

First off, I do have to give kudos to Bill and the Enquirer for doing the articles and having more coverage. I was really happy......right up until the midpoint of the article where Bill decided to tell Dantonio how to run a college football team. I certainly understand that an offense that is clicking and throws the ball down field (successfully) is a thing of beauty and fun to watch. But I want to see WINS and get this thing into the top 25. I don't want to "go Hollywood" for show and jeopardize all that.

The thing that drives me nuts about the way Grutza and the "predictable and not very entertaining" offense from last year gets bashed is this --- does everyone forget that we had a FRESHMAN QB and a COMPLETELY new offensive line? I mean, C'MON!

And just for the record, having the QB scramble around every which way on every other play is anything BUT predictable. lmfao

Wess wouldn't survive an entire season. He's too fragile.

Kudos to Koch for the articles, BUT should we have a Punter playing running back so we can surprise kick on 3rd downs??? At this point, Wess is an athlete, not a throwing QB.

Bearcat85 Wrote:I was really happy......right up until the midpoint of the article where Bill decided to tell Dantonio how to run a college football team.

Actually that was the part that made me the most happy. Not that I agree with his position, but when was the last time ANY writer (local or national) knew enough (or actually better yet even cared enough) to criticize a UC coaching decision? It happens regularly at the big-time programs. Kudos to Koch and the Enquirer for increasing their coverage, IMO.

And while I'm at it (though OT), kudos to Lance. Perhaps for the first time ever, a local sports personality not assigned to the job is genuinely giving UC football regular coverage and even trying to drum up interest via the Homer outing - and it seems like most of the comments on this board bash him. I don't get it.

Koch went a little bit off the reservation with his commentary. There is a case to be made, but he missed it.

The second-guessing question that is in play right now is: Why wasn't Wess put with the QBs at the start of spring practice? He would be much closer to being a starting threat at this point if he had a full spring of experience at the position. That, to me, is the major mistake that has been made.

In defense of the position we are in right now, I would not be in a hurry under any circumstances to play Wess against EKU. We ought to be good enough everywhere else that any of our QBs can go out and get the job done in that game. That's also another reason, though, why I'd favor Davila over Grutza at this point -- opponents really won't know for several weeks what Davila's tendencies and best plays are, while they already have a year of games on Grutza to work from.

Put Davila in as the starter against EKU. If he's not getting the job done in the Pitt game, then you have the option to throw Wess in there as your X-factor who might be able to light a spark under our offense with his different style. Following that game, though, I would be judicious in trying to use Wess at OSU or Va Tech -- those are tough environments with great athletes facing you on defense, and that is the kind of pressure Wess doesn't need at this point in his development.

What is also unwritten that continues to surprise me is that Carey is apparently 4th or 5th on the depth chart depending on where you slot Tony Pike.

Dantonio's comment to Lance on Carey was that he has all the athletic ability in the world to get the job done. So you can assume that it is his understanding of the position and the offense -- the same bugaboo that kept them from turning to Davila last year -- that is holding him back.

I still think he's the long-term answer, but he has a chance to lose that mantle if he doesn't show something before the end of next year's spring practice.

Trent has an article up in the Post today that addresses the QBs as well. But he leads it off by hinting at another of other areas on the team where there has been good progress this fall. First among them is the o-line, which is interesting, and welcome if it turns out to be true.

Grutza will be the starting QB.

firenancy Wrote:Grutza will be the starting QB.

He'll be matriculating into the QB position today. ;-)

From CTRs blog of August 24, 2006:

QB madness

Last night Richard Skinner called me to be on 1530 Homer's 'Two Angry Guys' this morning (although I only talked with one of the angry guys, and Skinny wasn't too angry this morning) to talk about UC football. I've been on with Skinny a couple of times this year and he's a guy who really wants to talk about UC football, but hasn't had too much response. However, the last couple of days there has been because there's an easy UC football topic -- who's going to be the quarterback.

A couple of weeks ago I talked to Lance McAlister and he said the only time people call his show to talk UC football is when the topic is 'why don't people support UC football?' That's changed this week, because of the quarterback indecision (I won't exactly call it a 'controversy').

I do find it amazing that a quarterback decision can be so galvanizing (the things people have said to me about Dustin Grutza, I wouldn't want to repeat). The old saying goes 'quarterbacks get too much credit and too much blame.' And it's true. It's the one position everyone seems to know everything about (which is funny, since it's the most complex position on the field). Yet, ask any fan who has an opinion on the quarterback who he thinks should start at center (another complex, important position -- which I say as a former center) and very few of these experts who know which quarterback shouldn't start could name the center.

But hey, I've been out to Higher Ground more this fall than I've been before, as have the other media outlets. There's a talk and buzz about UC football just because of this one big question mark. There's more talk this year than last, even though there was a similar situation last year when Grutza beat out Nick Davila earlier in camp, but not quite the interest. Perhaps that's because people have seen both and don't think a play can improve in a year? I don't know.

I'm not sure if we'll get an answer to this anytime soon. When I talked to Mark Dantonio about it today (for what seems like the millionth day in a row) he was very vague and almost proud of his lack of any specifics to very specific questions. With no practice the next two days, I doubt there will be a final decision before Sunday's practice and doubt there will be an announcement before Tuesday's pre-game press conference. Even then, I'm not sure there will be an announcement. Dantonio has kept things secret for this long, why tip off Eastern Kentucky?

Still, one thing is clear, it's better to not announce the starting QB than to have to reverse field, Arizona State-style. For those of you who haven't been following that soap opera, Sun Devils coach Dirk Koetter named Sam Keller the starting quarterback last Friday. Two days later he said sophomore Rudy Carpenter had won the job. Keller has already enrolled at Nebraska, with a year of eligibility remaining. And don't think Dantonio hasn't been following that story.

Elsewhere, a QB decision has set of what my good friend Josh Kendall called 'ledge-jumping rants'.

The world is a weird place.

As far as the Bearcats? Well, I would be surprised if we don't see three different guys play against Eastern Kentucky and either Grutza or Davila starting the game. And after a much more competitive race this year, expect Dantonio to have a much quicker hook this season. Whoever starts this season won't necessarily finish it. Until then, I guess we'll all be watching and guessing.

I have ripped Koch in the past as well. Gotta admit these have been very good, very indepth pieces. So I second the Kudos to Bill.

Unfortunately its a little late to put Davila in the drivers seat. As a senior he will have one year there and one year only. Its a tough spot for Dantonio in my opinion because you almost have to choose between the avenue you pick will get you the highest total of wins this year or an avenue that may build the team more and hopefully increase your win chances over the next 2-3 years.

I would like to see Davila start this year and develop Wess. It was
painful watching Grutza last year.

Several points from my perspective:

1. I fully expect Grutza will get the start.

2. I think it's crazy to suggest that Davila not be given the starting position because he is a senior and will only be there for a year. A HC should always start the best player at every position that gives his team the best chance to win.

3. Carey has a lot of talent, BUT he only played QB one year in HS (he was a TE). He has a cannon arm and is surprisingly athletic. Many in the city (myself included) felt he was a better talent than Schoenfelt (sp?) the St X QB that was nationally ranked and currently at tO$U. He is also tough; having played behind an uncharacteristically average Elder OL he took a lot of punishment. I have heard suggestions that he is not progressing as fast as they would like and tried to motivate him by moving him to TE for a few practices.

4. I love the updates from Trent!