Let Scott Chuck It

Over the next few games, I want Scott Elliott to get some chances to play quarterback.

Now, Scott wasn’t good against Southeastern- lost his starting role fair and square. And I think Anthony Scelfo did a very commendable job. He played a physically courageous game versus LSU- and a pretty heady one too, protecting the ball.

But the Army game showed the limitations of the “all Scelfo, all the time” approach. To wit: how do you turn 200 yards of rushing, plus an entire day versus a bad Cadet defense, into a mere 17 points?

I think the answer kinda starts with the quarterback.

Look, the quality C-USA quarterback is a big number generating guy. It is a League that for all its faults scores points in bunches- and Scelfo is sort of mis-cast in that role.

It isn’t that he can’t play quarterback- if you wanted a heady, protect the ball kind of guy, he could well be worth a look. But that 22-for-37 for 300 yards and 3TDs performance- the performance that gets you to the four-five TDs you need to be in a lot of C-USA games- that just isn’t Scelfo. Thus, Tulane can play well on offense but generate too few points- and thus still be a single play away from trouble all afternoon long.

Now, we’ve seen that 22-for-37 for 300 yards and 3TDs performance though. That was Elliot’s line against Rice.

It might have been a fluke- but these recent tests against Houston and MSU were a lot harder than Scelfo’s Army one. Anyway, we’ve seen enough of Scelfo to know he’s a sort of a charismatic holding action at best- and Tulane could learn something good about Scott if they find away to let him get a series or two against some of these more “shaky” league opponents.