SEC suffers from dearth of proven quarterbacks

HOOVER, Ala. — For a second straight year at the Southeastern Conference's Media Days, an almost embarrassing heap of hype and attention befell Florida quarterback Tim Tebow.

But, as you pushed through the glare of that spotlight, you were left asking yourself a question: What about the rest of the league's quarterbacks?

Ole Miss' Jevan Snead, who was also present Thursday, is being heralded as a top-tier quarterback even though he's played one season and looked shaky early on in that one.

Need further proof of the dearth of proven QBs in the best conference in America?

Consider the coaches' third-team All-SEC selection, revealed a week ago.

It was a tie between Kentucky's Mike Hartline and South Carolina's Stephen Garcia.

Hartline threw for 1,666 yards (nine TDs, eight interceptions) as a sophomore, but he didn't even start two of the final three regular season games, giving way to athletic freshman Randall Cobb in close losses to Georgia and Vanderbilt.

And Garcia? You of course remember his last appearance, the debacle that saw him removed early in what was to be his grand homecoming at the Outback Bowl. He turned the ball over the first three times he touched the ball.

Garcia's shining moment came in a second-half rally at Kentucky, but those moments were oh so few and far between thereafter. He was more famously known for being mowed down by an official than anything he did with his arm.

Garcia had six touchdowns to eight interceptions, throwing for only 832 yards.

Not exactly All-SEC numbers.

Clearly, there's a drop from one to two, and then a precipitous one from two to the rest.

The door is most certainly open to allow someone to vault himself into the top-tier discussion.

Heck, it could even be Hartline or Garcia.

Or maybe it's Ryan Mallett. The big kid from Texarkana who sat out his transfer year at Arkansas and could be the piece that gets Petrino's wide-open system going.

"One thing Ryan can really do is throw the deep ball," Petrino said. "If we can run the ball better and run the ball more consistently, it should open up our deep passing game and our ability to get the ball down the field."

Jordan Jefferson was outstanding for LSU in the Peach Bowl rout of Georgia Tech.

Those around Alabama's program seem to like Greg McElroy's smarts to go with his athletic talent.

"He's a bright guy. He's very instinctive," Alabama coach Nick Saban said. "But he doesn't have experience, and he's only going to get that by playing and developing the respect of his teammates as he plays."

And then there's Georgia's Joe Cox, who has waited for four years, watching Matt Stafford handle the Bulldogs' offense for the majority of that time.

"I have stepped into my role as a leader of this team. I am right where I want to be," said Cox, who started one game, against Ole Miss in 2006. "I've worked hard and a lot of guys look up to me and are ready and willing to follow me."

Still, Cox has thrown 15 passes each of the past two seasons and 58 in three seasons.

The unproven commodity of the position this year certainly makes for an intriguing fall around the South.

Reach Travis Haney at thaney@postandcourier.com and check out the South Carolina blog at www.postandcourier.com/blogs/gamecocks.