Question of the Day: Has the Danny O'Brien Era Been Ushered in for Maryland?
by Ben Broman on Sep 27, 2010 8:00 AM EDT
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PrintWe could only wait a few days to ask the question: has the short-lived Jamarr Robinson Era ended for the Maryland Terrapins and the hopefully longer Danny O'Brien Era begun?
The battle between O'Brien, a traditional, drop-back passer, and Robinson, a dual-threat player, has dominated headlines all season long, ever since O'Brien saw a snap of playing time in an utterly crucial time against Navy. His great performance against Morgan State muddied the waters; his injury then quieted it. But he might've just taken control for good.
O'Brien had a golden opportunity when Robinson couldn't play against FIU due to a rusty throwing shoulder. After a few rough series, he fully took advantage, showing poise, calm, and a mostly accurate throwing arm. When all was said and done, he was 18-27 for 250 yards, two touchdowns, no interceptions, and had the best single-game performance from a Terp QB all season.
It's important to note that it also came against a pretty solid pass defense, too. FIU was ranked 20th in passing defense coming into the game; when not including the games against Maryland, that's better than Navy but not as good as West Virginia.
It's also important to note that Maryland's coaches seemed comfortable passing the ball, especially in the middle quarters. That's in stark contrast to the past few Jamarr Robinson outings, most notably Navy, when Robinson attempted just five passes. West Virginia was the first game Maryland really let him sling the ball, and that only came in the second half once Maryland was down 21-0.
On the other hand, O'Brien wasn't flawless. Maryland had to punt seven times, after all, and he got lucky more than a few times in avoiding an interception or getting a nice grab from his wide receiver. It's not enough to overshadow the good, but let's not pretend the performance was flawless. It was still very good, especially for being a first start ever, but again - not flawless.
Ralph Friedgen responded by being mostly non-committal about who would start on Saturday. If Jamarr Robinson is still hurt, he claims, then O'Brien will get the start. Well, duh. The problem will arise if Robinson gets healthy, which one would assume would happen. After all, he'd have two weeks to recover from a supposedly non-serious shoulder injury.
Stats-wise, the decision's obvious. O'Brien has more yards and touchdowns in fewer attempts, a higher passer rating, a significantly better completion percentage, and fewer interceptions (grand total: zero). He looks better in person, too, as a taller, stronger, more poised pocket passing QB.
He also saw two snaps total against the two best opponents Maryland's played so far, and they were a sack and a fumble. Is a handful of snaps plus a single game against a winless Sun Belt team, however competitive they may be, enough to name a freshman the starter going into ACC play?
Robinson is still technically the starter, and the real question is if O'Brien's performance was good enough in Ralph Friedgen's eyes to unseat a starter. It'll be interesting to see; Friedgen traditionally gives an edge to upperclassmen (and severely mismanages QB controversies), but he needs to be in full-time preservation mode right now. That may alter the way he handles the situation. (Again, this is only a decision so long as Robinson actually is healthy; if his throwing shoulder is still sore, then it's a bit of a non-issue.)
Friedgen still says that he'll utilize two QBs, provided they're both healthy. Of course, having Robinson as a full-time starter and then bringing in O'Brien doesn't make much sense; he's one-dimensional, and it would become obvious that Maryland would be passing with him in. If Maryland does use two QBs, it makes a lot more sense to have O'Brien full-time, with Robinson in as a Wild Turtle-type of package, or to run the flexbone.
I've talked about that in the past, and still oppose it because its never worked for Maryland. But now that Robinson's proven himself as a capable passer, maybe things will be different.
So, here's the question of the day: if both are actually healthy - which may or may not be the case - who's the starter on Saturday? Feel free to pitch in with what you would do in this scenario.
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Danny O'Brien
18-27 for 250 yards and *2 tds
O’Brien looked good, but Robinson does bring some things to the table with his athleticism, I think a competent offensive coordinator could find a role for both of these players within the offense, let’s hope we have a competent OC…
DOB and Robinson sees time
I agree with amarshall.
It appears we are most effective when we’re a pass-first team. Our running game has been fairly weak, and is most effective when we’re able to spread out the defense. O’Brien’s the better qb to do that. Plus, his decision-making seems to be better than Robinson’s. For example, there were several times Saturday that DOB threw it away and I commented that Robinson would have been sacked.
All that said, I believe there is a place for Robinson in the offense and he should see some time.
Whoa! hold on a second Broman,
when did Jamarr prove himself as a capable passer? The entire season he has not shown the ability to go through his reads. Two bombs down the sideline can not be taken as “proving himself” because any man can take a snap and drop back two steps and throw it up to Torrey. But not every man can stand in the pocket with poise and deliver the ball to the open man.
When Jamarr was in, Ralph had to go to max protect because if Jamarr so much as saw a player from the other teams jersey he runs backwards 8 yards. With O’Brien in, we were sending 4 WRs out at once.
robinson is a capable passer? well you are entitled to your opinion but i don’t agree. robinson looks at only one receiver, can’t read “hots” according to friedgen and can’t read defenses very well. so no i don’t see robinson as a capable passer. he runs well but you need a qb who can pass, read dedenses, minizie mistakes and be able to go through progessions. and the 2 headed qb situation would be a poor choice.
All DOB
unless injury forces otherwise or it’s a COMPLETE blow-out. We need to get this kid ready for Death Valley and the trip to BC. Time to work out any kinks, and get the timing with Torrey down pat. No (playing)time to waste.
Ben you must be reading my mind these last few weeks. Should have put up my piece on this subject instead of going to class!
But it’s Danny O’Brien’s job from here on out. Unless he really plays badly and looks visibly shaken, he needs to stay in.
When you're rich you don't write checks - Randy Moss
Re: Robinson being a capable passer
It was in reference to Maryland running a Wildcat formation with him. I wouldn’t classify him as “good”, but we had Tony Logan out there last time. I’m pretty sure that, compared to Logan, Robinson qualifies as a capable passer.
If we were gonna throw him out there in the occasional Wildcat, I’d feel comfortable with him throwing the ball. At least more than I was last year, when he had never attempted a pass.
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