I’m still having nightmares about the Birmingham Bowl. I’m sure Shane is too. If it wasn’t worry about the rusted/wood rotted stadium collapsing on us, it was worry that we would lose to East Carolina.
Vernon Hargreaves, as you know, saved the day and intercepted their QB in the end zone with a minute or so to go. It would have been a long drive back to Hendersonville if not for him. I understand their team is decimated by graduations. I hope we beat them by more than the 20 point betting line. A second feel good game would certainly help make up for the past few years of misery. Oliver Barry, CRS, GRI Real Estate Broker PARKS 305B Indian Lake Blvd Suite 220 Hendersonville TN 37075 Phone: 615-826-4040 Mobile: 615-972-4239 <mailto:[email protected]> [email protected] From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Shane Ford Sent: Friday, September 11, 2015 8:15 AM To: GatorNews Subject: [gatornews] [SUN]: Dooley: East Carolina QB knows adversity Dooley: East Carolina QB knows adversity <http://www.gatorsports.com/apps/pbcsi.dll/bilde?Site=GS&Date=20150910&Category=COLUMNISTS&ArtNo=150919995&Ref=AR&imageVersion=Main&MaxW=445&border=0> East Carolina's Blake Kemp (10) hands off the ball to Anthony Scott (3) during Saturday's game against Towson at Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium in Greenville, N.C. The Associated Press By <http://www.gatorsports.com/personalia/patdooley> Pat Dooley Gainesville Sun sports columnist Published: Thursday, September 10, 2015 at 9:15 a.m. Last Modified: Thursday, September 10, 2015 at 9:49 a.m. So much attention has been focused on the quarterbacks at Florida. Treon or Will? Will or Treon? It has been one of many battles for the most important position on a football team around the country. Under the radar, they battled it out in Greenville, N.C., as well to see who would succeed the ultra-successful Shane Carden at East Carolina. You remember Carden. He threw for more than 200 yards in each half against Florida’s vaunted secondary in the Birmingham Bowl. Unfortunately for Carden, his last pass nestled into the arms of Vernon Hargreaves III in the end zone and Florida escaped with a victory. Carden’s record-setting college career was over and Ruffin McNeil set out to look for his replacement. The battle was between Kurt Benkert and Blake Kemp. Benkert was named the starter, then blew out his knee a week later. So it is Kemp who will lead the Pirates into The Swamp Saturday night to try to pull the upset. “It’s going to be awesome,” Kemp said. “I’m grateful for the opportunity.” And you can understand why. His is a road that isn’t traditional for a starting quarterback at an FBS school. Here’s all you need to know — in his junior year of high school in Chandler, Ariz., he played tight end. He finally got a chance to play quarterback as a senior and kept Harrison High winning. But there weren’t a lot of offers coming his way. So he stayed close to home at Mesa Community College and guided his team to a pair of bowl games. There was some interest, but a broken collarbone in his next-to-last game caused some schools to back off. “There were some teams on the bubble, but really none of them were as good as East Carolina,” he said. “And ECU was running the same offense.” So he crossed the country to play for the Pirates, just not right away. With Carden at quarterback, ECU decided to redshirt Kemp last season. “It was more frustrating (not playing) than I thought it would be, but just watching and getting experience there helped,” he said. “So did getting my butt kicked in practice.” The competition in the fall camp was a tight one before Benkert was announced as the starter Aug. 19. “It was extremely disappointing,” Kemp said. “I was mad, but I tried not to show that to any of my teammates. I just went back to work.” Then came the injury to Benkert and suddenly it was Kemp’s job. “It sucks,” Kemp said of Benkert’s injury. “It’s the last way you want it to happen.” Still, it was his team now and he was solid in the Pirates’ opening win over Towson, completing 29-of-37 for 230 yards in a 28-20 win. “It was an adjustment,” said McNeil. “My hats off to the staff for coming up with a gameplan and have him execute it. I thought he managed the game well. “Blake is an amazing kid. He’s had to work for everything he has. There’s no silver spoon there.” On Saturday night, it’ll be a little different. It’s The Swamp. It’s a defense that gave up no second-half first downs in its first game. Its Hargreaves and Co. in the secondary. It’s big boy football. “It was awesome getting out there and playing again,” Kemp said. “The crowd will be a little louder for this game.” But when you’ve had to battle for this chance, when you’ve already lost the job once, it’s an amazing opportunity. And it’s his team now. Behind him is a quarterback who hasn’t thrown a live pass in almost two years in Cody Keith. ECU may also use James Summers, who was originally recruited as a wide receiver and just arrived on campus two weeks ago. “I feel pretty good,” said Kemp. “All I can do is try my best.” It’s gotten him this far. Contact Pat Dooley at <tel:352-374-5053> 352-374-5053 or at <mailto:[email protected]> [email protected]. And follow at Twitter.com/Pat_Dooley. Sent From Shane's iPhone Go Gators! & Skål Vikes! ALPCA #8756 Europlate #1045 -- -- GATORS: ONE VOICE ON SATURDAY - NO VOICE ON SUNDAY! 1996 National Football Champions | 2006 National Basketball Champions 2006 National Football Champions | 2007 National Basketball Champions 2008 National Football Champions | Three Heisman Trophy winners: Steve Spurrier (1966), Danny Wuerffel (1996), Tim Tebow (2007) --- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "GatorNews" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout. -- -- GATORS: ONE VOICE ON SATURDAY - NO VOICE ON SUNDAY! 1996 National Football Champions | 2006 National Basketball Champions 2006 National Football Champions | 2007 National Basketball Champions 2008 National Football Champions | Three Heisman Trophy winners: Steve Spurrier (1966), Danny Wuerffel (1996), Tim Tebow (2007) --- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "GatorTalk" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
