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Both quarterbacks were solid without being spectacular, Geno was very solid but didn't put any points on the board. Sanchez was inconsistent, staying in line with his whole career. Geno ended 9/16 for 77 yards with 0 touchdowns and 0 interceptions, where as Sanchez was 6/11 93 yards, 1 touchdown and 1 interception. Sanchez did have a couple of drops, but he also missed a wide open Clyde Gates in the endzone for a sure touchdown. Geno's first drive should have ended in a touchdown but it was pulled back for a penalty.
Rex spoke afterwards about both performances:
He was absolutely tremendous in the first drive and that’s something we have to learn from — penalties kill you. We had two big penalties that took a touchdown off the board and what I told the team is that those are huge momentum things. The defense, you let them get a stop in the red zone, they feel great about themselves. That elevates their play and offensively it kind of takes the air out of your sails a little bit. You’ve already knocked it in, you think you scored a touchdown, and then it’s whipped off the board with a penalty. That we need to prevent.
Well, I mean, again, with the team it was similar things. I think there were some good moments and bad moments. Some of the protection never held up and then when it did I thought the quarterbacks threw the ball well. So that’s what I was telling the threes in there, I’m like, "You give McElroy time, he’s going to hit it," and sure enough he did. But really with all the quarterbacks it was a great throw that Mark made to Stephen, obviously, at the end there to close out the scrimmage.
We are going to have to wait a little longer for the competition to be resolved, after all despite this being the closest we have come to game action, the quarterbacks were still off-limits when it came to hits. Everything changes when you have the fear of having your lights knocked out. A lot of people think Geno may take the step back in the race when the hits start coming, but Geno is a big, strong guy and he took hits at West Virginia. If anything I think it will help him, as the threat of physical contact will speed everything up, and his main negative has been holding the ball too long. If he can speed up without losing accuracy, then we are in for a treat. The fact remains that Geno still hasn't thrown an interception at all this camp.
So to sum up, there really was little movement in the competition. However if Geno starts on Friday against Detroit, and there is absolutely no reason why he shouldn't, we'll know a lot more Saturday morning. Put Geno out there against a first team defense who will be coming upfield and getting in his grill, that's how you learn about a guy.
As you were gentlemen.