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Let
the controversy begin
Quarterback
position remains wide open until August play
Players
contend with health issues and practice schedule in hope
of gaining key role.
By
John
Ashley Menzies
Assistant Sports Editor
It is 161 days until kickoff for the next Horned Frog
football season.
OK, so kickoff isn’t exactly right around the corner,
but spring practices are in full swing.
Which begs the question, who is the quarterback?
Three names come up as possible suitors for the position:
senior Brandon Hassell, junior Tye Gunn and redshirt freshman
James Battle.
Is a quarterback controversy brewing on the campus of
Texas Christian University?
“No,” said head football coach Gary Patterson.
“Right now, we’re just trying to get our quarterbacks
healthy.”
Patterson said the position is open and that the team
is trying to find someone who can run the offense.
“The quarterbacks in our system are here to manage
the offense,” Patterson said.
Health, it seems, is the reason this whole situation has
come about.
Last season, Gunn entered the season as the starter but
had trouble staying healthy. Gunn only played five games
and was knocked out of the final six games with a pulled
groin muscle.
Hassell took over for Gunn and led TCU to a 7-2 record
as a starter.
Gunn said he is getting healthy again and has been knocking
some of the rust off in practice. He said he feels ready
for the upcoming season.
“I just need to take a little better care of my body,”
Gunn said. “I’ll need to go to more treatment.
Go three or four times a day, rather than just one.”
Gunn said some of the injuries have been freak injuries
and hopes to avoid them this time around.
Hassell isn’t safe from injury either. He has a bone
spur in his foot which was sustained last season, and
has limited him to passing drills and kept him from taking
part in full drills for the rest of the spring, he said.
Hassell said the quarterbacks are all competitive and
that they know they can play. Injuries are definitely
holding the quarterbacks back and before anything can
be decided they all need to get healthy, he said.
“It’s still early in the spring,” Hassell
said. “It will take a lot of time. It will just take
that person stepping up.”
Battle is the new guy. A highly touted prospect out of
Denton Ryan High School, Battle was redshirted last season.
“Coach told everyone that anyone could start,”
Battle said. “I like that they put my name in there.
It makes me feel good. I just have to come out here and
do what I have to do.”
Patterson said that there is no leading candidate right
now but that both Gunn and Hassell deserve a shot along
with any other quarterback on the roster.
“Tye [Gunn] is there and Brandon [Hassell] had the
season he had last season and he definitely should receive
a shot,” Patterson said.
Gunn said that in any controversy, you just have to block
out what everyone says and just go out and play.
“There are people out there who know what they’re
talking about,” Gunn said. “But there are those
who don’t and you just have to block them out.”
Patterson said the decision won’t be made by the
end of spring and will continue until two-a-day practices
begin in August.
Patterson said: “Tye [Gunn] isn’t getting the
reps. Brandon’s foot. Right now we’re just trying
to give our younger quarterbacks a chance to develop.”
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Sarah
Chacko/Photo Editor
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| (From
left to right) Senior quarterback Brandon Hassell,
junior quarterback Tye Gunn and redshirt freshman
quarterback James Battle will be scrambling for
more than the ball this fall as they compete for
the starting quarterback position. |
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