Don’t expect Travis Clark to do anything too outrageous to show Georgia Southern’s new staff he’s worthy of the starting quarterback job.
Instead, the 6-foot-1, 215-pound junior plans to quietly go about his business, toiling to regain the position he held last fall when he threw for 1,808 yards and eight touchdowns.
“I’m just going to be myself, not go out of my boundaries, practice hard and play hard,” said Clark, who appears to be the frontrunner after two spring practice sessions. Following Saturday morning’s workout, first-year Georgia Southern coach Chris Hatcher said it’s too soon to have a depth chart, but he’s been impressed with Clark.
“He’s got a really good command of things, just the operation standpoint,” Hatcher said.
This year marks Clark’s first spring with the Eagles after transferring from Southern Mississippi last summer and winning the starting role during fall practice. Helping the Eagles improve is Clark’s main focus this spring.
“I’m doing everything I can do to make the team better,” Clark said. “We were 3-8 last season, and we are just focused on coming in here this year and getting better.”
For the strong-armed passer, GSU’s new offense approach — the Hatch Attack — is more similar to systems he’s worked with in the past than the pro-style set the Eagles used last year. He thinks the hardest part of the spring will be learning the terminology for the new plays and getting on the same page with the receivers and new running backs.
“We’ll spread it out more and get the ball to different people,” Clark said of the Hatch Attack. “It’s great. Some people might touch it more than once a game and some might touch it more than 13 times a game.”
Clark’s competition this spring will come from sophomore Chris Griffin and redshirt freshmen Kyle Collins and Jeremiah Enloe.
Which qualities are most important to Hatcher in a quarterback?
“He’s got to be able to lead, the team’s got to be able to follow him and he’s got to be able to win ball games,” Hatcher said.
Griffin is back in blue and white after missing all of last season. He ran Georgia Southern’s scout team in 2005 and won the starting job last spring before he became academically ineligible for the 2006 season. The year off gave Griffin, who’s working to get back into a rhythm, time to reflect.
“I learned not to take anything for granted and if you have a chance to take advantage of it,” said Griffin, adding that everybody has welcomed him back.
The Hatch Attack, Griffin said, suits the style of all of the quarterbacks on the roster.
“(Hatcher) adjusts to what he has at quarterback, and our goal is just to get the ball to the playmakers,” Griffin said.
Hatcher praised both Collins and Enloe, who was doing drill work and didn’t practice Saturday, and said Griffin has looked a little “rusty.”
“Right now, (Griffin) probably has the furthest to go, but he’s learning and working hard. That’s all I can ask right now,” Hatcher said.
Senior Jayson Foster, the starting quarterback for GSU’s triple option in 2005 who lined up under center occasionally last year, opted not to tryout as a signal caller. Instead, he’ll be used as a speed back, a combination of receiver and running back.
“With the four quarterbacks we have now and the talent they have, it’s going to be hard to compete with their skills,” Foster said. “Also, I like doing punt and kick return, running back and receiver and being able to move around and help the team out.”
Foster said he’s optimistic about what he’s seen so far at the helm.
“I think all four of them are doing a great job,” he said. “Everybody’s excited to see Chris back. It builds competition at the quarterback position, so it’s a big plus for the team.”
Hatcher encouraged by progress
Hatcher was pleasantly surprised with the progress the Eagles made between Friday afternoon and Saturday morning and said the team was further along Saturday than he’d expected.
“We were light years ahead of yesterday,” said Hatcher. “I think the light turned on for some of the guys, the game kind of slowed down for them a little bit. We are still not anywhere where we need to be, but today was much better than yesterday without a shadow of a doubt.”
Did anything in particular stand out to him Saturday?
“We looked a little sharper, we knew where to go, the defense knew how to do the drills a little bit better and offensively, in our early drills, we were actually completing passes today — that just kind of kicked things off for us the right way this morning.”
Shoulder pads Monday
The Eagles will resume spring practice around 3:20 p.m. Monday, their first workout in shoulder pads. GSU’s will put on full pads Wednesday afternoon, and the first spring scrimmage is scheduled for Saturday at 9:45 a.m.
Alex Pellegrino can be reached at (912) 489-9413.
Instead, the 6-foot-1, 215-pound junior plans to quietly go about his business, toiling to regain the position he held last fall when he threw for 1,808 yards and eight touchdowns.
“I’m just going to be myself, not go out of my boundaries, practice hard and play hard,” said Clark, who appears to be the frontrunner after two spring practice sessions. Following Saturday morning’s workout, first-year Georgia Southern coach Chris Hatcher said it’s too soon to have a depth chart, but he’s been impressed with Clark.
“He’s got a really good command of things, just the operation standpoint,” Hatcher said.
This year marks Clark’s first spring with the Eagles after transferring from Southern Mississippi last summer and winning the starting role during fall practice. Helping the Eagles improve is Clark’s main focus this spring.
“I’m doing everything I can do to make the team better,” Clark said. “We were 3-8 last season, and we are just focused on coming in here this year and getting better.”
For the strong-armed passer, GSU’s new offense approach — the Hatch Attack — is more similar to systems he’s worked with in the past than the pro-style set the Eagles used last year. He thinks the hardest part of the spring will be learning the terminology for the new plays and getting on the same page with the receivers and new running backs.
“We’ll spread it out more and get the ball to different people,” Clark said of the Hatch Attack. “It’s great. Some people might touch it more than once a game and some might touch it more than 13 times a game.”
Clark’s competition this spring will come from sophomore Chris Griffin and redshirt freshmen Kyle Collins and Jeremiah Enloe.
Which qualities are most important to Hatcher in a quarterback?
“He’s got to be able to lead, the team’s got to be able to follow him and he’s got to be able to win ball games,” Hatcher said.
Griffin is back in blue and white after missing all of last season. He ran Georgia Southern’s scout team in 2005 and won the starting job last spring before he became academically ineligible for the 2006 season. The year off gave Griffin, who’s working to get back into a rhythm, time to reflect.
“I learned not to take anything for granted and if you have a chance to take advantage of it,” said Griffin, adding that everybody has welcomed him back.
The Hatch Attack, Griffin said, suits the style of all of the quarterbacks on the roster.
“(Hatcher) adjusts to what he has at quarterback, and our goal is just to get the ball to the playmakers,” Griffin said.
Hatcher praised both Collins and Enloe, who was doing drill work and didn’t practice Saturday, and said Griffin has looked a little “rusty.”
“Right now, (Griffin) probably has the furthest to go, but he’s learning and working hard. That’s all I can ask right now,” Hatcher said.
Senior Jayson Foster, the starting quarterback for GSU’s triple option in 2005 who lined up under center occasionally last year, opted not to tryout as a signal caller. Instead, he’ll be used as a speed back, a combination of receiver and running back.
“With the four quarterbacks we have now and the talent they have, it’s going to be hard to compete with their skills,” Foster said. “Also, I like doing punt and kick return, running back and receiver and being able to move around and help the team out.”
Foster said he’s optimistic about what he’s seen so far at the helm.
“I think all four of them are doing a great job,” he said. “Everybody’s excited to see Chris back. It builds competition at the quarterback position, so it’s a big plus for the team.”
Hatcher encouraged by progress
Hatcher was pleasantly surprised with the progress the Eagles made between Friday afternoon and Saturday morning and said the team was further along Saturday than he’d expected.
“We were light years ahead of yesterday,” said Hatcher. “I think the light turned on for some of the guys, the game kind of slowed down for them a little bit. We are still not anywhere where we need to be, but today was much better than yesterday without a shadow of a doubt.”
Did anything in particular stand out to him Saturday?
“We looked a little sharper, we knew where to go, the defense knew how to do the drills a little bit better and offensively, in our early drills, we were actually completing passes today — that just kind of kicked things off for us the right way this morning.”
Shoulder pads Monday
The Eagles will resume spring practice around 3:20 p.m. Monday, their first workout in shoulder pads. GSU’s will put on full pads Wednesday afternoon, and the first spring scrimmage is scheduled for Saturday at 9:45 a.m.
Alex Pellegrino can be reached at (912) 489-9413.
