Why Jake Christensen Should Start
For those of you that have not heard - make sure you are sitting down - Drew Tate is out this week against Northern Illinois. Drew hurt his left hand (his non-throwing hand) against Michigan last week in a fall and the knock required surgery. According to Ferentz, Drew is not playing due to fear of getting an infection in the incision. He should be practicing by next week and is probable for Northwestern next Saturday. But for this week, the Iowa Hawkeyes get to deal with something they have not dealt with in a long time, a quarterback controversy. Ferentz said he doesn’t know who he will start this week, but I’ll give you a few reasons why I think it should be Jake Christensen.
- It’s Northern Illinois. I’ll admit that I was a bit worried when I saw the offense that Garrett Wolfe could throw around in the Huskies first game against the Buckeyes: 171 yards on the ground through 26 carries and 114 yards through the air on 5 receptions. But in the last two weeks, Wolfe has seen a dramatic drop in production. I don’t know if they are just wearing the guy out with to many touches or teams are figuring NI out. And neither Western Michigan or Temple have anything close to the Hawkeye D. I’m not saying NI will be a pushover, but its one of the easiest teams on the schedule.
- Remember Syracuse? Manson was 16/32 with 202 yards, 1 TD and 4 INTs. But I don’t want to slam too much on Manson. I think if Kirk would have gone with Manson 3 years ago, he would be a solid QB today. And remember, he didn’t know he was going to start against Syracuse untill the morning of the game. Not to mention he has had to live in Drew Tate’s shadow his whole collegiate career. That alone make me want to start Jason, but…..
- Jake is the future. Jake is going to be the guy for the next 3 years after this one. The big knock on Jake is that he doesn’t have a lot of experience. In response I say check out the first bullet point and then check out the guy’s arm. Colestal and I saw him throw at the Spring practice and his snaps in the Montana game. Both times we were impressed. The ball comes out of his hand like a slingshot and he throws a nice, tight spiral. I think he has the potential to be something special for the Hawkeyes. Let’s see what the young man can do.
Bottom line, I like the Hawks chances regardless of who starts at QB. The dilemma is whether or not you go with the veteran that has paid his dues, or give your future valuable game experience. Tell us what you think.
Search
I’m voting for Christensen. Props to Manson for being a good soldier all these years an ultimately walking off the field at the Carrier Dome with a win as a starter — but really, it’s better for the team in the long run to start Christensen. Also, having watched Wisconsin play live this week, I’m sure we’ll be so far ahead of them on Senior Day that Kirk will have no problem giving Manson some playing time then to celebrate his career.
my vote goes to jake. Manson is the man, it’d be great if tate wasnt hurtin he could start gettin sum pt at some place else. overall better for the team with jake and manson would know that, hopefully kirk thinks the same.
Like I have been saying since we recruited this bastard. The kid has great talent up and down. I think he’ll be one of the best Iowa has ever had. HudHawk..I fucking told ya so.
I found this in the Daily Iowan this morning:
“The bullet-firing left arm of Jason Christensen is in the door…”
Who’s this Jason Christensen guy? Maybe it’s a hybrid of Jason Manson’s athleticism and experience mixed with Jake Christensen’s rocket arm?! We created Chabdul Hodgeway last year, so don’t count us out on producing an uber-quarterback this week.
yeah but bighawk you also told me we shoulda benched tate for the season after the montana game and gone with him. so you all be the judge of that…
Let’s not forget that Manson’s interception stats are, to say the least, inaccurate. 2 from tipped balls by recievers and one from Herb running a slant when he was supposed to run a quickout. These int should be credited to the recievers. That puts him at a 1:1 td:int ratio. My vote goes with split time.
How about the old quarterback rotation every series in the first half and then in the second half go with who played the best. Probably not a good choice…but just a thought. Honestly I think both guys have a decent claim to the spot. With Manson you just have to be sympathetic to a guy who has played his role on the team for 5 years and want to give him a chance at finally getting his own glory. Christensen is the heir to the throne and the earlier he gets real action the better in the long run. Question…if they started christensen and he went out and threw 3 interceptions would he turn from the golden boy of the future into a player who is now number one on the hate list???
#6 should start the game and the coaching staff should work Manson into the WR position, since he practiced at this position all off season. From my point of view, the Hawks woes this year all point to one area: inability to catch a pass that hits them in the hands. If the receivers could step up their game to where it should be, this team is probably 7-1, if not 8-0. Garrett Wolfe is the Troy Davis of N.Ilinois… doesn’t matter what he gets against good teams, they still lose…
Parrots: Christensen would not go on the hate list because all 3 of his INTs would hit the receivers in the hands or the numbers.
But it wouldn’t matter because Garrett Wolfe is going to be a paraplegic after Saturday afternoon and the Huskies are going to wish they had stayed in Illinois with the rest of the FIBs.