A Welcome to Arms

Millie Olawale grabbed the helm during the Dartmouth game, but not for good



Well, I've avoided the QB "position preview" for spring practice as long as I could... and with good reason.

Nothing fires up the fans' passions more than the quarterback position,; two fans, three opinions.

After two years of Craig Hormann's rock solid ownership of the job, every week in 2008 became a question mark when it came to who was going to start at center.

I thought Shane Kelly started the season extremely well. Despite going 0-3 through the first three games, Kelly was putting up good passing numbers and running better than any starting QB since Steve Hunsberger '04.

Then after some tough outings against Lafayette and then at Penn, he seemed to be on thin ice. A lost fumble against Dartmouth late in the 3rd quarter led to the coaches putting in Millie Olawale and he energized the team to victory.

But it wasn't all smooth sailing from there. Olawale wasn't perfect in the next week's loss to Yale, and Kelly ended up leading the team through a significant portion of that game.

The week after that, both QB's had their troubles versus the fierce Harvard pass rush.

Olawale seemed to be back on top securely after leading the Lions to a win against Cornell in week 9, but an injury at the end of the first half against Brown kept him from finishing out the year on a strong note.

But seniors Kelly and Olawale are not alone. The sole returning junior QB, Paul Havas, who missed 2008 with an injury, is back. He's joined by rising sophomores Jerry Bell, who got a decent chunk of playing time in the Brown game, and Kevin Lenehan.

In one of his published spring practice notes, Head Coach Norries Wilson talked about how only two QB's were available, but I'm not sure if he meant available for that particular practice or for ALL of spring practice.

Either way, there should be a lot to watch for from the QB position at the April 18th spring game. Check it out and let your opinions fly!