conspectus
\ kən-ˈspek-təs \
noun
1: a usually brief survey or summary (as of an extensive subject) often providing an overall view
Each week, Greg Brandt and/or Brad McDaniel will review from the week of football that was.
Trevor Lawrence
Trevor Lawrence’s “sophomore slump” seems so long ago, doesn’t it? Lawrence threw eight interceptions in the first seven games of 2019. Then suddenly, after a two-interception outing against Louisville, it just stopped. He was no longer a “bad decision-maker,” had “bad footwork,” or possibly “wasn’t healthy.” Wild.
Lawrence avoided the Turnover Chain Saturday night and extended his streak of pass attempts without an interception to 356. He’s one of only three ACC QBs to ever surpass 300 attempts without an interception. He’s only 24 pass attempts away from breaking Russell Wilson’s ACC record of 379.
I love record-chasing so it’s never too early to start talking about the all-time streak of 444 pass attempts without an interception. That streak belongs to Louisiana Tech’s Colby Cameron back in 2011-12.
Jacurri Brown
Brown and Lowndes High School took on crosstown rival Valdosta on ESPN2 Friday night. The game was supposed to feature a QB battle between Brown and USC commit Jake Garcia. Long story short, Garcia was ruled ineligible by GHSA after his parents legally separated so he could move from California to Georgia to play his senior season. That left 4-star QB Jacurri Brown on center stage. The 6’4” 205-pound QB is the sixth-ranked dual-threat QB in the 2022 class according to the 247sports Composite. For what it’s worth, ESPN has him as the number one dual-threat QB. Brown received an offer from Florida back in May and they seem to be the early favorite. Georgia was the most recent school to offer Brown. Ohio State and Clemson have been in contact, but haven’t offered scholarships yet.
Brown has a ways to go as a prospect. He completed 56% of his passes as a freshman and sophomore, but that completion % has dipped to 44% through five games this season, so it was nice to see a full game from him. He completed 8 of 17 passes Friday night. I’ll try to sum up what I saw from Brown as a passer in two sentences. He threw to open receivers a lot more than he threw receivers open. He’s much better at throws that travel 20+ yards downfield than he is throwing short to intermediate.
His ability as a runner is what makes him intriguing. This season, he’s run for 516 and 9 scores. He ran for 1,561 yards and 20 TDs as a sophomore. A year earlier, he rushed for 661 and 8. He had TD runs of 50 and 65 yards in the 4th quarter to put the game on ice. In this game, he did show a tendency to avoid the tough, inside yards in favor of stretching his runs to the edge where he can make a difference with his speed.
High School Football
I know this is supposed to be a review of what went down over the weekend, but I wanted to take a second and look ahead. We are in the middle of a stretch where ESPN is treating us to games featuring top-notch QBs. I don’t often say nice things about ESPN, but their prep football coverage this season has been great.
Thursday night, Booker T. Washington visits Newman in a game featuring Arch Manning. Friday night, Denton Guyer and Eli Stowers visit Southlake Carroll and Quinn Ewers. Both games will be televised on ESPN2. We plan to have more about both of these games later this week.
Quarterbacks
Kansas State QB Skylar Thompson is out for the rest of the season after undergoing surgery to repair an upper body injury.
Syracuse QB Tommy DeVito is expected to miss the rest of the season after suffering a leg injury vs Duke.
