South Florida football teams are very familiar with quarterback controversies; too bad FAU does not have one.
Jared Allen and Danny Embick are roommates and have become really good friends during fall practice. Both quarterbacks are learning from each other and pushing each other.
Great. So where is the drama?
That’s right; there is none. Jared Allen finally has the starting job and he deserves it.
Embick will get his opportunity and will probably get the starting job when he totally grasps the offense, but for now he is Allen’s backup.
Allen is my clear choice for the job. Sure, he has had bad games, but he also has shown the toughness and leadership needed to be the starter. He grew up last year with a makeshift offensive line and no running game. This year Allen will make his mark, if the coaches allow him to.
Allen is looking forward to playing Youngstown State, Gardner Webb, and Nicholls State, all teams that have beaten him in the past. If Allen is not given the opportunity to get revenge against these teams, FAU will be having a season that makes last year’s look good.
Even teammates are backing Allen, saying that he is the starter and there is no controversy. Allen has this year to make a name for himself because you never can tell if Schnellenberger will change the lineup.
The quarterback position is the toughest on any team.
“Whether you win or lose, quarterbacks are either looked up or down upon,” Allen says.
Allen knows he has to produce and wants whatever is best for the team. He is not letting any talk about this controversy weigh on his mind.
— Corey Zimmer
When football camp begins, one question that tends to be on people’s minds and, usually, also serves as a season-long distraction is: Who will emerge as the starter in the quarterback controversy? The answer is pretty simple – there isn’t much of one.
Jared Allen was the starting quarterback at FAU last year and played extensively in the inaugural 2001 year. He ended up starting a streak of 6 out of 7 games that year. Even though he started most of FAU’s games last year, Garrett Jahn received a substantial amount of playing time, mostly in the second half in a two-headed dragon type of offense.
Danny Embick recently transferred to FAU from West Virginia, where he was the backup quarterback. Embick grew up in South Florida and attended William T. Dwyer High School. As a backup, Embick did get some playing time (five games.) Interestingly, he also saw some time as a punter.
The camp competition would pit the incumbent Jared Allen against Danny Embick. Schnellenberger has yet to officially name a starter. This is not unusual. In 2001, the starting quarterback for the first game was selected by a coin toss. If he has decided on a starter, he hasn’t clued the rest of the team in on it yet.
From the team’s standpoint, both quarterbacks have demonstrated that they have the ability to play. Appearances would seem to point to favorability with Allen, understandable since he’s been here since the beginning, but are also more than willing to play for Embick. Allen and Embick get along very well off the field. The two quarterbacks and the team have a camaraderie that makes a locker room war pretty unlikely. Usually, the players choosing sides is the real problem of a quarterback controversy so the team should be in good shape regardless of the starter.
The tale of the contest depicts the starter from FAU’s first two seasons against the hometown favorite. If this sounds melodramatic, good. The bottom line is Allen is clearly favored to get the starting job. It’s still very plausible that Schnellenberger will go with a similar offense as last year and use Embick like Garrett Jahn. That said, even without a controversy now, there may be one later in the season, if Allen or the team struggles.
–Todd Walsh
Jared Allen is a red-shirt junior. He was FAU’s starting quarterback last season. Allen was 98 for 193, with seven touchdowns and six interceptions. He threw 1,358 yards last season and averaged 123.5 yards per game. Allen was named the team’s offensive MVP in 2002.
Danny Embick is a red-shirt sophomore transfer from West Virginia University, who is in the Big East. Embick transferred to FAU in January. He was second string QB, while at West Virginia. Embick played in six games, completed nine of 18 pass attempts. He threw for 137 yards, averaging 22.8 yards a pass.
Allen has been with FAU since their inaugural season in 2001. Embick just recently transferred to FAU in January and is learning the system as he goes along. By now, you would think Allen would be very comfortable with the offensive system and knows what’s going on, but that didn’t prove to be the case last season. Allen has not been performing up to par. Allen has been getting more playing time during scrimmages. Embick has been out with an injury, so therefore he hasn’t been getting much experience with the offense. Why would Embick, who came from a D1-A school, transfer to FAU, if he wasn’t going to start?
I think it will be good for FAU’s offense to get a new arm under the helm. Change would be good for this team. Maybe that is what FAU needs, a new quarterback to lead them down the field. Embick is a perfect candidate for this position. Yes, he does not have experience with the team, like Allen has, but that doesn’t mean he still can’t get the job done.
Embick needs to first get healthy, then get out onto the field with the offense and let us see what he is made of. It doesn’t help when you are sitting on the sidelines during practices and scrimmages with an injury. He needs experience actually getting the snap, not just reading plays and watching tapes.
— Kay Trudel
When marketing a product, in this case the FAU football program, you have to pick one constant symbol to put on all advertising. This one “symbol” was quarterback Jared Allen. As FAU’s starting quarterback for the past two seasons, he has also appeared on team schedules, billboards, flyers, and other advertisements. The media wants to talk to him, and the ladies want to date him. Allen received his second varsity letter and the Offensive MVP at the Grid Iron Club Football Awards Banquet in January. He is that perfect “symbol” for the marketing of South Florida’s newest attraction.
In comes Danny Embick, the Palm Beach Offensive Player of the Year in high school, and he earned the 5A Florida First Team Honors. Why did he transfer from West Virginia University to play back at home? To play, or to start? I believe he wouldn’t have come unless he was going to start. The FAU football coaching staff also wouldn’t have brought him in unless they wanted him to compete for the starting role.
So herein lies the problem: Do you go with the person who you have invested in, or the person you are currently investing in? Allen has been the symbol, and now might not be our starting quarterback. So is this the real problem?
Some may argue that money has nothing to do with it; Allen and Embick are both quality quarterbacks that have to battle for the starting role.
Remember: Last year’s schedule cards had a picture of Allen; this year has a picture of Lockhart Stadium. Is our stadium really a good marketing symbol? Are they now marketing our new stadium and not our top players and/or our team? Or are they changing the symbol and thus changing our starting quarterback?
–Rick $mitty Smith
