Quick Look: Quarterbacks
UHND.com - Frank Vitovitch
August 20, 2000

Note Dame, Ind - WIth two weeks remaining to the start of the season everyone knows for the most part how Notre Dame is sitting at each position.   I thought however it would be good to throw my opinion out there on each position and how I see things playing out.  Quarterback will be the first position with the other positions following between now and the start of the season.

Everyone knows that quarterback is the biggest question mark for the Irish this season.  Gone is Jarious Jackson who was the heart and soul of the team for the past two seasons.  While his decision making was suspect at times, his heart and desire was always at the highest level.  In is Arnaz Battle who has seen little time in his first two seasons at Notre Dame.  He came in with a bang, taking over the #2 quarterback spot from Zak Kustok in fall drills during his first fall practice with the team.  Since then however he has seen very little playing time.

The only true test Battle has faced in college football was in 1998 when he saw the majority of the action against USC after Jarious Jackson went down with an injury against LSU the previous week.  In that game we all saw Battle under throw receivers, make bad decisions, and fall to put any points on the board.   That was the last game of the 1998 season and since then he has had a year and a half of practice.  He has now received a full spring and will receive a full summer of practice as the #1 quarterback when he steps onto the field September 2 against Texas A&M.

The biggest question however is whether or not all the practice and all the time under Kevin Rogers will translate into success on the field.   Until he leads Notre Dame to a win people will still be questioning whether he has what it takes.  Physically he is a very gifted athlete.  Unlike his predecessor Jarious Jackson who ran with power from the quarterback position, Battle is more of the quick, agile type and is a bit faster.  He is also more of an option quarterback.

Jarious was a great runner, but he was not necessarily a good option quarterback.  Many of his pitches were off target or late and there were more than a few fumbles as a result.  A large majority of the time Jackson kept the ball himself and teams stopped worrying about the pitch man which resulted in nice gains the few times he did pitch it.  With Battle the option and fake option should be a much bigger weapon.  As of now it is much easier for Arnaz to beat someone with his feet than with his arm.  Until he experiences some success throwing the ball he will still look to run the ball when under pressure rather than throwing it.

Behind Battle is Gary Godsey.  Godsey, a six four seven inch converted tight end, was moved to quarterback after Eric Chappell was kicked off the team and has remained there.  Many feel, myself included, that as soon as one of the freshman quarterbacks feels comfortable in role that Godsey will move back to tight end.  To me it just makes sense.  Two tight ends are graduating (Dan O'Leary and Jabari Holloway) and John Owens was converted to a defensive end.  That leaves only Gerald Morgan and freshman Billy Palmer at tight end and neither of them have seen any real playing time.  On the other hand, you have Arnaz Battle with two years of eligibility left and three very talented freshman quarterbacks on the roster.  Not to mention the fact that Godsey is not what you would call a mobile quarterback.

Gary brings something to the table though that neither of the other quarterbacks have.  He is the true, prototypical pocket passer.  He has some mobility but he is no more an option quarterback than Rick Mirer or Ron Powlus were.  Godsey will fill in nicely however until he is needed at tight end again.   If Battle were to go down, Notre Dame's play book is cut down a lot since Godsey would not be nearly as effective as Battle in carrying out a number of the plays which involve the option or variations of it.

The rest of the quarterbacks are freshman: Carlyle Holiday, Matt LoVecchio, and Jared Clark.  Holiday is most likely the most raw of the bunch and has the most potential for that reason.  Clark and LoVecchio don't have as much room to improve as Holiday.  On the other hand however, it appears as if Clark may have the best arm of the bunch from the freshman quarterbacks.  All three have shown good signs in practice but none of them has really stood out as the clear leader.

Holiday brings the most athleticism, Clark the strongest arm, and LoVecchio brings a mix of the two.  In many cases the freshman qb's resemble the runningback trio at Notre Dame.  Holiday is like Julius Jones in that they are the most exciting.  Clark is like Fisher in that they are both strong and bring with them durability and consistency.  LoVecchio reminds me of Howard since Howard is a mix between Fisher and Jones as LoVecchio is mix between Clark and Holiday.

Overall I think Notre Dame is sitting very nice at quarterback.  The experience is not there, yet, but the talent is loaded.  Any of the three freshman could start for just about any division one school and all five quarterbacks bring a boat load of talent with them.  With time the experience will come and with that so will wins. 

Many people doubt that Arnaz Battle can lead this football team.  Well, many people doubted Jarious Jackson could too.  Many people also thought Notre Dame's season was over when a certain Kevin McDougal was named starter after Ron Powlus got hurt as a freshman.  Because Battle is so mobile his feet will help him gain confidence and with that his arm will start to look better. I personally feel Arnaz will lead this team to big things.  He has the talent, he just needs the encouragement and confidence of his teammates and coaches.  If he attains both of those things before September 2, the Notre Dame faithful will be in for a treat.