Stephen Morris. If I am Randy Shannon, the Jacory Harris era is over. The kid led the team down the field with under two minutes left, no timeouts (all due to Randy Shannon's poor clock management), and fired a bullet to Leonard Hankerson for a touchdown to seal the victory. My favorite part about the throw? Morris didn't see it. He was laying on his back. His version of what happened? He was staring into the sky, laying on his back waiting for the crowd to erupt and let him know he had just won the game. As soon as he heard the roars, he knew. What did he do? Pointed to the sky and thanked God. Great story that could just be the beginning of something great for the University of Miami. This is chapter 1 of Stephen Morris' college career. A kid who had no idea he would even be playing this year. A kid who at the same time the year before was playing against Gulliver Prep. All of a sudden he's tossing the game winning touchdown in an ACC game against Maryland. All of a sudden he's the hero, the savior of the season (according to some). Will the end of his book include a national championship? It's fun to dream of the possibilities for now isn't it? That's what happens when your freshman quarterback leads a come from behind victory. Your fan base is rejuvenated. The media lays off a little bit. The audacity to be optimistic is no longer seen as a neurotic break from reality.
Now Stephen Morris finds himself in the middle of a quarterback controversy, because whether or not Randy Shannon wants to admit it, there is a controversy here. The fans were blowing up the radio stations minutes after the game calling for Jacory Harris' permanent benching. Shannon released a statement hours later saying Jacory would return to the starting lineup once deemed healthy by team doctors. Right move? I don't think so.
If you're Randy Shannon you stick with the freshman. Look at Bill Belichik. Drew Bledsoe goes down, Tom Brady comes in. The rest is history. Who knows what happens to the Patriots if Belichik decided to give Drew Bledsoe his starting job back? Do the Patriots still win multiple Super Bowls? Tough to answer yes to that question. There's no guarantee that Stephen Morris will lead this team to a championship next year or the year after. Here's the thing though. We've all seen what Jacory Harris is capable of. We've seen his best football already. He's an inconsistent quarterback with an average arm. He's prone to throwing interceptions and has not progressed at all in his three years as the starting quarterback. The truth is we've gone as far as we can go with Jacory Harris. Why not find out if Stephen Morris can take you farther? Roll the dice here Randy Shannon.
