After this weekend's 56-45 home loss to the #8 Clemson Tigers the question still beckons for the Terps. Danny O'Brien or C.J. Brown?
O'Brien, once deemed the savior of Maryland football after his cinderella freshman season, started the season leading the Terps to a big season opening win against Miami only to be benched by new head coach Randy Edsall after two embarrassing losses to West Virginia and Temple which were followed by a sub-par performance in a win over Towson two weeks ago.
The last straw came against Georgia Tech in Atlanta last week when he was replaced by Brown after going 1 for 6 for 17 yards and an interception while Maryland was mired in a 21-3 hole on the road against the #13 team in the country. Brown brought the Terps back with two touchdown scoring drives to make it 21-16 (including a 77 yard run by the elusive quarterback) but was eventually stopped on the final drive of the game.
The performances of the two sophomores has split Maryland fans in half as to whom the starting Quarterback should be. Some believe coach Edsall should stick with O'Brien through his bad stretch stating that his recent run of bad form is a result of trying to understand new offensive coordinator Gary Crowton's complex new system. But wouldn't this be a reason to justify O'Brien's benching, seeing as Brown has had just as much time to adapt to the new system yet has embraced it and played magnificently as a result.
Maybe playing O'Brien is the equivalent of trying to put a square peg in a round hole, when Brown is the round peg that fits perfectly. Brown is just the right quarterback for Crowton's spread option system with his ability not only as a passer (17 for 35, 177 yds, 3 TD's vs Clemson) but as a decision maker and weapon in Crowton's option run game (22 carries, 162 yds, 1 TD vs Clemson). O'Brien, who is purely a pocket passer, may have the tools to succeed in the new offense but not to take it to it's full potential. He would be the right choice in any form of the pro offense but unfortunately for all of those Maryland fans who went out and bought #5 jerseys during the offseason, the Terps are going to be running the new spread option for some time.
The problem is getting the fans on board with their new starting quarterback and convincing them he is the right man for the job. Maryland's new marketing campaign was spearheaded by the wildly popular O'Brien, printing his image on posters all over College Park, declaring him the best quarterback in the ACC, and featuring him on radio shows all offseason. Now C.J. Brown will have to look into the stands at Byrd Stadium on saturdays and see countless #5 jerseys staring right back at him, reminding him of the expectations and who he'll be compared to this season. The only thing that will quell the cheers for O'Brien to be reinstated as the starter is, you guessed it, WINS. Brown is yet to win a game where he has received a majority of the snaps, which though it can be blamed on the Terps porous defense this season, is not going to help him convince the naysayers that he's the right man for the job.
The Terps get another chance to make a statement next weekend when they travel to Tallahassee to play the preseason ACC favorite Florida State Seminoles in a matchup which has lost its luster after poor starts to the season by both teams. This will not diminish the importance of the game for either team, as Maryland looks to salvage any hopes it has for a bowl bid and Florida State tries to right the ship and keep pace with division leaders Clemson and Wake Forest for a place in the ACC championship game. A win in Tallahassee, one of the nation's toughest places to play, on national television would go a long way in convincing C.J. Brown's detractors that Maryland's coaching staff made the right decision in picking him as the starter.
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