Jury still out on who'll start at QB

Jury still out on who'll start at QB

By Craig Sanders
Arizona Daily Wildcat
September 11, 1996

Nicholas Valenzuela
Arizona Daily Wildcat
Quarterbacks Keith Smith (12) and Brady Batten are still in limbo. UA head coach Dick Tomey says the starter for Saturday's game will be determined later this week.

Arizona's 21-20 loss could be better for the Wildcats than an easy win against UTEP, UA head coach Dick Tomey said.
Despite the loss, the Iowa game is the kind any coach wants in the early season. A close, physical match like that on an opponent's turf gives a coaching staff a chance to look at who can and who can't play in crunch time.
Of course, the loss will also inevitably lead to personnel controversies, especially when the starting quarterback doesn't take a snap in the second half. But Tomey, in typical head coaching style, will not reveal what some of those changes are.
"I'm undecided at this point and I'll make a decision on the quarterback decisions and several others as the week goes on," Tomey said. "We have two good players at quarterback and we just will see which one we feel at the end of this week should start the game."
Arizona quarterback Keith Smith finished the Iowa game 9 for 15 for 89 yards, two touchdowns and an interception, while starter Brady Batten finished 5 for 8 for 92 yards.
"What I'm looking for is a player that can move the team and make plays with a minimum number of errors," Tomey said.
Whichever quarterback he chooses, Tomey said the rotation between Batten and Smith will not be the same as it has been the last couple of weeks.
"We would like to get to the point where we are not using a rotation," Tomey said. "We hope that whoever we determine is strong enough so that we just don't have to do that.
"They've both got some playing time right now and that's real positive. We're going to need both of them."
It seems fans will have to wait until Saturday to see who takes the first snap.

Tomey is also looking at his depth at both backfield positions. He says he wants to take a long look in practice at Kelvin Eafon at fullback and freshman Leon Callen at tailback.
"We know they can play in some plays, but we want to see if they can play in every play," Tomey said.
Gary Taylor, the Wildcats' senior runner, finished with 30 yards on nine carries against Iowa. Tomey says he is still looking at his options at tailback and that no one has shown the "whole package" yet.
Tomey said he is also looking at both tight ends and several of the offensive line positions. Tight end Mike Metzler and offensive lineman Frank Middelton played through some pain against Iowa.
"Frank was really courageous in the last game because he was hurt," Tomey said.
As for the offensive line's performance Saturday, Tomey said it performed better against the Hawkeyes than against Texas-El Paso, but was still not good enough.
"We had too many key breakdowns," Tomey said.