Ever since Mike Glennon’s redshirt freshman season ended, his status has been a huge topic of speculation among N.C. State fans understandably excited about his potential.
The guy is 6-foot-6 and has a cannon for an arm. His teammates say he is even deceptively fast on his feet. He may be the second coming of Matt Ryan, who N.C. State coach Tom O’Brien helped mold into a fantastic dropback passer at Boston College.
Nonetheless, O’Brien has it right when he describes his plans for Glennon’s playing time. O’Brien says Glennon will play a little. The plan is to get him in for one or two series during the first half of the opening game against South Carolina.
A series or two in each game will be just enough to get Glennon the experience he will need in case Russell Wilson gets hurt and Glennon is thrust into action. If O’Brien uses Glennon any more than that, he will be taking his best player off the field.
After spring practice, O’Brien asked his assistant coaches to rank N.C. State’s top 20 players on offense and defense. After O’Brien compiled the aggregate rankings, linebacker Nate Irving, who’s now injured, led the defense followed by end Willie Young.
Wilson was the highest-ranked player on offense, and rightly so. The guy was the first-team All-ACC quarterback last season as a redshirt freshman. He threw 17 touchdown passes and just one interception in 275 attempts.
He made his most amazing plays – including a breathtaking, 29-yard touchdown run against Miami – with his feet. Even though he missed some spring practice because he was playing baseball, there’s no reason to suspect Wilson won’t get even better this season as a sophomore.
Even so, the backup quarterback always is a popular figure on campus. Glennon’s coaches have nothing but positive things to say about him. And fans are longing to see what Glennon can do because they have heard so much about him.
They will get to see him. But just a little. That’s the way it should be, because Wilson is unquestionably the best player on the N.C. State offense.
Comments
Good situation
Thu, 08/13/2009 - 11:46 — JPDOhioThe backup QB is the most popular guy on the team when the starter falters. Russell Wilson is a popular, talented leader whose performance last year was no fluke. So I am guessing that there is not likely to be a QB controversy this year. In fact, I would bet that Russell has a plan for how long he is going to play football, Mike and TOB know what it is and Mike knows he won't be waiting forever to be the starter.
Anyway, O'Brien's plan in this regard is a good one. If Russell gets hurt, State will need Mike to be ready to go. My hope is that the Pack can get ahead in enough games (especially the 2nd and 3rd) that Russell can be pulled and Mike can get at least a quarter's worth of playing time.