Taylor Tharp

I think it was while I was waiting for the Fresno vs. BSU game to start on ESPN. The announcers were bantering on about what this game meant in the grand scheme of things, and one of them mentioned BSU quarterback Taylor Tharp. That's when it hit me -- I really hadn't thought that much about Taylor since the Southern Miss game. For the first time in - oh - three years, I was not fretting about whether the quarterback would have a poor game or a great game. I was actually thinking more about BSU's injury status... and freshman running backs... and the defense... and special teams... than I was about the QB making bonehead decisions and stupid errors.

I'm not knocking Zabransky. He was a heck of an athlete, and he did lead the offense to wins during some very close games. But it's almost a blessing to have a QB who disappears under the radar like that. Then, the coaches and fans can all concentrate on what's happening in the other skill positions. And, from a fan's viewpoint, it really is more fun.

Taylor has been the model of consistency, and has been playing pretty much mistake-free. It would be nice if he was a better runner, but that's just not his forte. In fact, he may actually be better because of it. He makes up for a lack of mobility by making great decisions of the field. I like to think of him as a director or conductor rather than a "field general". He understands his role in the offense perfectly.

On the lighter side, Taylor had some pretty good smack going on with Coach Petersen the week prior to the San Jose state game. Taylor started it with a comment about how good the Broncos offensive line was - he said even Coach Pete could run for 10 yards behind it. When asked about it, Coach Pete said he could do it, but Taylor hadn't yet (Tharp's longest scramble prior to that was for 9 yards). The two of them traded barbs over the course of the week. Then, on the first play from scrimmage against the Spartans, Taylor saw the opening and scrambled for 11 yards and a first down - thereby "winning" the smack-off.