bobby dodds ghost
Damn Good Rat
- Joined
- Jun 5, 2002
- Messages
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24 hours make a difference: Fri. AJC on Bilbo\'s future
COLLEGE FOOTBALL: Maturation of a QB
Tech's Bilbo puts behind a dismal '02 to grow into his position
John Hollis - Staff
Friday, August 8, 2003
Damarius Bilbo spent last season trying to convince Georgia Tech's coaches that he ought to be their No. 1 quarterback.
He never did.
The harder he tried, the more he struggled.
"I was selfish for a little while," Bilbo said. "When I got in, I was selfish to where I was going to try to show coach [Chan Gailey], 'This is what I'm capable of.' That kind of got me in trouble a little bit."
A year later, the man who threw five interceptions and just three touchdown passes last season has the top job, at least on the current depth chart. He gets about two-thirds of the snaps in Tech's preseason practices. The rest are pretty evenly divided among A.J. Suggs, last year's starter, and freshmen Patrick Carter and Reggie Ball.
Gailey has stopped well short of naming Bilbo the starter, but Gailey has seen enough potential that he wants to find out what will happen if Bilbo ever adds consistency to his raw talent.
Gailey: "He shows flashes of being really good. Then he has a couple of bad plays."
But teammates say they see a difference between the Bilbo of last season and this year's version. They see a confident sophomore in place of the freshman who thought he had to wow the coaches with every play. It all started, they say, when Gailey promoted Bilbo to the top of the depth chart.
"You could tell he was much more into it because he was No. 1 and the other guys were out to beat him out," receiver Jonathan Smith said.
"I think everybody feels a certain comfort level when they're taking all the snaps," Bilbo said.
It helped that Gailey made things easier for him by simplifying the terminology. It also helped that Bilbo dedicated himself to studying game tape at every opportunity.
Bilbo, 6 feet 3, 225 pounds, has bench-pressed 405 pounds, the most ever by a Tech quarterback. He's fast enough that Florida recruited him as a receiver.
"I feel like there's nobody who can match me physically," Bilbo said. "I feel like if I get the mental part down, I'll be OK.
"I probably wasn't as mentally ready as I wanted to be [last season]. I felt like physically, I was ready. I was feeling the only way to learn was get in the game."
But for the first time in his football career, he spent much of the season standing on the sidelines. He sat out five of Tech's 13 games.
What happens next is up to Bilbo.
"I just want the ball in my hands," he said.
.
.
.
Ironic....ain't it?
COLLEGE FOOTBALL: Maturation of a QB
Tech's Bilbo puts behind a dismal '02 to grow into his position
John Hollis - Staff
Friday, August 8, 2003
Damarius Bilbo spent last season trying to convince Georgia Tech's coaches that he ought to be their No. 1 quarterback.
He never did.
The harder he tried, the more he struggled.
"I was selfish for a little while," Bilbo said. "When I got in, I was selfish to where I was going to try to show coach [Chan Gailey], 'This is what I'm capable of.' That kind of got me in trouble a little bit."
A year later, the man who threw five interceptions and just three touchdown passes last season has the top job, at least on the current depth chart. He gets about two-thirds of the snaps in Tech's preseason practices. The rest are pretty evenly divided among A.J. Suggs, last year's starter, and freshmen Patrick Carter and Reggie Ball.
Gailey has stopped well short of naming Bilbo the starter, but Gailey has seen enough potential that he wants to find out what will happen if Bilbo ever adds consistency to his raw talent.
Gailey: "He shows flashes of being really good. Then he has a couple of bad plays."
But teammates say they see a difference between the Bilbo of last season and this year's version. They see a confident sophomore in place of the freshman who thought he had to wow the coaches with every play. It all started, they say, when Gailey promoted Bilbo to the top of the depth chart.
"You could tell he was much more into it because he was No. 1 and the other guys were out to beat him out," receiver Jonathan Smith said.
"I think everybody feels a certain comfort level when they're taking all the snaps," Bilbo said.
It helped that Gailey made things easier for him by simplifying the terminology. It also helped that Bilbo dedicated himself to studying game tape at every opportunity.
Bilbo, 6 feet 3, 225 pounds, has bench-pressed 405 pounds, the most ever by a Tech quarterback. He's fast enough that Florida recruited him as a receiver.
"I feel like there's nobody who can match me physically," Bilbo said. "I feel like if I get the mental part down, I'll be OK.
"I probably wasn't as mentally ready as I wanted to be [last season]. I felt like physically, I was ready. I was feeling the only way to learn was get in the game."
But for the first time in his football career, he spent much of the season standing on the sidelines. He sat out five of Tech's 13 games.
What happens next is up to Bilbo.
"I just want the ball in my hands," he said.
.
.
.
Ironic....ain't it?
