College Football: 10 Starting QBs Destined to Fail in the 2010 Season
Expectations are a fickle thing: either teams will rise up to them and possibly exceed them or falter in the spotlight.
And in college, fortunes can change in the blink of an eye, either for better or for worse.
No other position has more expectations in football than the QB because all eyes are usually on the man taking snaps.
While some do rise to the occasion, oftentimes there is a situation where he just is not able to get the job done.
Whether it is due to a lack of individual luck or success, or the expectations are just too overbearing, QBs are the most likely to flop at any time.
And since they get the most attention of any position on the field, they end up being the most criticized and thus given the most blame of anyone.
Here is a look at 10 QBs that are most destined to fail in 2010.
Kevin Riley, California
1 of 10
Jeff Tedford in his career has been very good at developing young quarterbacks.
However, he has also been notorious for his teams and key players underperforming from year to year.
A perfect example of that is Tedford's third-year starter at QB in Kevin Riley.
Riley, despite having tremendous outings against Maryland and Arizona State, showed his inconsistency by looking feeble against Oregon, USC, and Washington.
Now without star RB Jahvid Best, the Bears will be relying on Riley to have a big year to contend in the Pac-10.
Riley, outside of the carries that RB Shane Vereen will get, has very little margin for error and must play well for his team to have a good 2010 season.
Matt Simms, Tennessee
2 of 10
Tennessee football has gone through one of the most tumultuous years in college football, from the arrests and dismissals of two talented freshmen to the Lane Kiffin fiasco and the hiring of Louisiana Tech coach Derek Dooley.
The son of UGA legend Vince Dooley, Derek has been a mediocre coach while at Louisiana Tech but now enters SEC play.
His most likely starting QB is Matt Simms, a former Louisville Cardinal and son of the legendary Phil Simms.
Simms has only thrown four completions in D-I football, but led his JUCO team in El Camino, California to their fourth-straight league championship.
With the departure of highly-touted RB Bryce Brown to Kansas State, all eyes of the offense will be on Simms in the vicious SEC.
Not much is expected of Simms, and that combined with the strength of the SEC on the defensive side of the ball makes his window for success much slimmer.
It could very well be a long year for Matt Simms, especially with stud freshman QB Tyler Bray getting accustomed quickly to the college game.
Nathan Scheelhaase, Illinois
3 of 10
A coach on the hot seat, a tough conference schedule, and replacing a four-year starter at QB are big problems for any new starting QB to deal with.
For Nathan Scheelhaase at Illinois, the task of playing well and at the same time keeping his coach's job will be weighing heavily on him as the redshirt freshman gets his first field action in 2010.
Scheelhaase, a four-star recruit, is another dual-threat player much like Juice Williams was during his four years in Champaign.
Whether or not he can be as effective as Juice remains to be seen. But if he is a more accurate and efficient passer than Juice, the Illini offense can be pretty tough to stop.
But it's tough for a redshirt freshman QB to step into the Big Ten and be as impactful as some of the other top QBs in the conference, especially with a three-week sequence of games against Ohio State, Penn State, and Michigan State consecutively, all of whom have good defenses.
And if Scheelhaase cannot be effective, he can lose his coach to the employment line.
If the Zooker wants to keep his job, he has to hope his young signal-caller matures quickly and leads the Illini to a respectable record.
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Tyler Hansen, Colorado
4 of 10
Like Scheelhaase, Colorado's Tyler Hansen will be called upon to revive the coaching career of Dan Hawkins, who has been awful after coming over from Boise State.
Hawkins has not had a winning season in three years at the helm in Boulder, with much of the blame involving the stubbornness to keep his son Cody as the starting QB for the prior three seasons.
Even though the team hasn't been very impressive in past years, there is still some talent on the team, including Michigan transfer WR Toney Clemons.
A bowl appearance is certainly not out of the question for Colorado in 2010, but they do have to figure out how to get past their two toughest road games, at Oklahoma and Nebraska, and come up breathing.
It will not be easy, but Hansen certainly can lead his team to a bowl game this season.
But there are big expectations to live up to, and he must either play well or see his coach get fired after this season.
T.J. Yates, North Carolina
5 of 10
On paper, with the defense that the North Carolina Tar Heels have, it seems that if they can have a solid offense, they can probably win the ACC.
But the problem for the Tar Heels is whether or not T.J. Yates can be the guy under center.
Yates and the UNC offense were near the bottom of the ACC in most offensive categories including passing, scoring, and total offense.
And while a 60% completion percentage is pretty good on paper, a 6.02 yards-per-attempt number and a TD-INT ratio below one are just not good at all.
The chances for an offense that returns 10 starters to improve significantly should be high, but Yates is the big question mark.
Few players in the ACC have as much pressure weighing on them for their team's success as Yates does at UNC.
Even if he just plays solid and protects the football, that may be enough to get the Tar Heels a shot at a conference title.
If he struggles again, he could pull the Tar Heels down with him.
Zac Lee, Nebraska
6 of 10
Like T.J. Yates at UNC, Zac Lee was the head of an inept offense that kept Nebraska, which had one of the best defenses in the country in 2009, from making a BCS bowl appearance.
And also like Yates, Lee and nine other offensive starters will return to an offense that just needs to be efficient to help out a loaded defense.
The difference between the two is that Lee's job may be more at stake with backups Cody Green and Taylor Martinez nipping at Lee's heels.
In addition, the pressure of playing for a national title is weighing heavily on the offense's ability to take pressure off Bo Pelini's defense.
If Nebraska can be more efficient on offense, especially in the passing game, they can certainly find themselves in contention for a title shot.
If not, Lee may be riding the bench for his senior season.
Denard Robinson, Michigan
7 of 10
No seat in college football is hotter than the one Rich Rodriguez is on in Michigan.
And in his third and possibly final season in Ann Arbor, Rich Rod is possibly going with his third starting QB, sophomore Denard "Shoelace" Robinson over last year's starter Tate Forcier.
Robinson showed that he was a flashy playmaker with tremendous speed from the QB position, but he was not very accurate as a passer as a freshman.
Reports out of camp are that he has become a much better passer, but like Forcier, he is having trouble establishing himself consistently.
Robinson and Forcier will both be on the field plenty, but it seems unlikely they will have a big impact due to the Wolverines' schedule, having to face all four ranked teams in the Big Ten,.
Either one or both needs to be strong in 2010 for their coach to keep his job and for the Maize and Blue Nation to finally believe that there is a bright future in store for their Wolverines.
Stephen Garcia, South Carolina
8 of 10
The pressure is building on Steve Spurrier and Stephen Garcia, who hasn't lived up to the hype that many Gamecock fans have heard about.
And while he showed great improvement in 2009, he needs to take the next step for the other USC to be considered a contender in the SEC East.
The returning roster includes 16 starters and talented young stars like WR Alshon Jeffery and S Stephon Gilmore.
And this year, Garcia should have a new favorite friend in five-star recruit RB Marcus Lattimore, who stayed away from higher profile programs to stay in state.
Garcia has weapons around him, but now he needs to step up his individual performance to take his team to the next step.
If he doesn't, it isn't necessarily the end of the world, but it just means mediocrity is setting in for Spurrier's Gamecocks.
And for a coach as respected as Spurrier, that would be a major disappointment.
But if Garcia can live up to the hype this season, the Gamecocks can certainly surprise people.
Whatever happens, the ball is clearly in Stephen Garcia's court.
Jeremiah Masoli, Ole Miss
9 of 10
The rise and fall of Ole Miss QB Jeremiah Masoli has been staggering, from Rose Bowl runner-up to an uncertain playing status with the Rebels.
When and if Masoli is granted a year of eligibility by the NCAA while he attends graduate school in Oxford, MS, he should be the starter in Houston Nutt's offense.
But the problems for him start immediately when he realizes what division he's in: the SEC West.
The defenses he saw when he faced Boise State and Ohio State in 2009 will be very similar to what he has to deal with in 2010.
He will have plenty of weapons to work with in Brandon Bolden, Jesse Grandy, and Markeith Summers among others.
The problem will be that Masoli might not be as successful as he was when he ran the zone read in Oregon, and he will have to improve his completion percentage as well.
Masoli is certainly athletic enough to be successful in the SEC, but it's tough to project how successful he will be against more talented competition, especially defenses such as Alabama's unit.
If he can't adjust, his final season may be a tough one.
But then again, until he's ruled eligible, his season could possibly be a success if he sees the field at all.
Jordan Jefferson, LSU
10 of 10
Many LSU fans expected big things out of QB Jordan Jefferson after solid performances to end his 2008 season.
But he also frustrated many fans with his inconsistencies which was a contributing factor to the Tigers having a four loss season, a high number for this team in recent years.
It didn't help matters that the offense struggled running the football as well, leading to the unit being anemic at times in 2009.
That said, the running game led by Stevan Ridley and hyped-redshirt freshman back Michael Ford should help out Jefferson along with receivers Terrence Tolliver and Rueben Randle.
But it all falls on Jefferson's effectiveness.
And the schedule is not very conducive to a good passing team with good passing defenses from North Carolina, LSU, Florida, and Ole Miss.
Jefferson's job should be much easier if the running game improves.
But even still, his performance can mean the difference between LSU being an SEC West darkhorse or another less-than-ideal season.
The best way for LSU to take the next step will be if Jefferson can become a better passer and make smarter decisions. But he will have a tough time in doing so.
This article can be found on Storm the Field.
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