I have to disagree. As someone who attended every practice, if you asked me who the starter for the Aggies was going to be without knowing anything, based on what you saw on the field you’d assume it was Kollack. The difference to me was pretty evident. Cleeland is fine. There is nothing he does that jumps out at you. I’m not sure where this deep ball praise is coming from, because I keep seeing misses. I think the only reason he gets the benefit of the doubt is because he has been in Coach’s system longer and that’s ok. Did he separate himself and establish himself as the clear #1? Not to these eyeballs. But coaches and players like him, and that counts. Leadership is an X factor that should always be considered.

I’m not saying it’s going to happen, but if Kollack did eventually take over the starting job, it wouldn’t shock me at all. Remember, Kollack is a 4 star gunslinger from SoCal who was recruited by some pretty big programs. Let’s see how it plays out.

“ Did we take 3 QBs to San Diego, and if yes, who was QB3? Eason?”
We sat right behind the Aggie bench. I didn’t see Eason but wasn’t looking for him either.

Hey, I’m looking for an upset! All it takes is for SMU to turn over the ball and a couple good kick returns for Davis to have a punchers chance at winning.

I see that Zach McKinnell who placed a lot of faith in Kollock being the QB voted the Aggs 17th in this weeks ballot

opened at 31.5, down to 24.5

I would caution against using the star system as justification for someone starting. There are numerous cases of 4 and 5 star athletes who turn out to be busts in college while unranked players are big time players. I post star ratings of players in the recruiting thread, but I put little to no stock in that system. It is not deterministic by any means.

Oh I agree. However, my analysis is from attending practice and watching them over a couple weeks. Still, he was the #34 overall prospect in the state of California coming out of high school which does mean things.

Over his high school career at Laguna Beach, he set school records with over seven thousand passing yards, ninety four passing touchdowns, and around seven thousand eight hundred yards of total offense with a hundred fifteen total touchdowns.

That’s pretty good. Had he signed out of high school he would be the highest ranked player ever to commit to Davis.

I can't argue against your assessment as I didn't go to any practices myself, but as I mentioned previously I trust Plough when it comes to QBs. I don't think he gave Cleeland the job just because he's been around longer. He gave Pinnick the job over Harper last season and I think he made the right choice.

Again high school stats and ratings don't really matter to me that much. What matters to me is what they can produce now. Lan Larison only has 2 stars coming out of high school.

Anyway, I don't really want the thread about SMU to turn into just QB debate so let's try to refocus things to this weekend.

Go Ags! Beat the Ponies!

@Pacifico2 noted what I also saw when watching
SMU VS FSU - SMU speed is something else. I do think you want to give them your best shot (I remember watching the Ags play a top 10 Boise State team and being in the game until the fourth quarter). I don’t expect that here, but you can’t go into a game with a don’t get hurt and just take a paycheck and go home mentality. I think coaches decisions on pulling guys will depend on how things play out. Of course we hope to avoid injuries - but also be at least somewhat respectable.

Eason was and is QB3 today and yes, he traveled to USD.

ACC money/ACC Network money MUCH higher payout than "PAC12" (I say that loosely, that conference is a joke) money. Did anyone watch a "PAC12" game last weekend? MWC payout is even less because that's just a glorified Big Sky Conference.

How about we schedule USC every 3-4 years, then take the 'opps' cancelation fee, and re-book elsewhere?

I think you hit it on the head in one regard: Leadership. Not knowing either kid, and just speaking of QBs in general, if you have a guy that the team will follow and that the OL will lay it out there for, you have something special. Most OL think QBs are douchebags. Cleeland's brother is an Offensive Lineman. Kid has probably had a few beers with the OL (disclaimer: I have no idea if he drinks and he is underaged anyway so that is a tongue in cheek comment), BBQ'd with them, lifted with them, all that. That doesn't win the job but it breeds loyalty. And effort. And maybe that was the deciding factor.

Unlike you, I was not at every practice. I was at one scrimmage. What it felt like to me was that one kid (Cleeland) felt like the starting QB and it felt like the other guy (Kollock) was pressing a little, trying to impress. Understandable, but at the end of the day, Cleeland seemed to me like he was going to win it, and he did. Kollock was a gunslinger in high school, great stats, but he played at Laguna Beach, which is a very similar level of competition as Jesuit in Portland (where Cleeland hails from), sort of that Division 3-5 level in the CIF Southern Section, depending upon the year.

I have no knocks or negatives against Kollock; I believe he has the potential to be an outstanding collegiate QB. I believe the same for Cleeland, and for Eason. The fact that we see things differently in our evaluations is what makes football fandom so much fun. And with QBs especially, we're probably looking at different things that we like/dislike. At the end of the day, we're both about winning games and giving the team the best shot at winning, right? Go Ags!

Reported by Hero sports that the payout by SMU is 460,000. Seems low, compared to other FBS games.
last year they allegedly got somewhere around 600,000 at washington
AI gives these numbers:
2022 at Cal: $650,000
2023. at Oregon State: $635,000
2024 at Cal: $675,000
2028 at Washington State (Future Contract): $575,000

I’d much rather they play Washington State than SMU.

I would like to see Kollock get some playing time, in either of these next two games which are likely to be one sided affairs. I think he could play without it being a QB controversy, and from a fan perspective i’d find it interesting. I suspect the SMU game will need something other than the score to be interesting.
Plough has his philosophy, which is commit to one guy, but that should leave room for the 2nd guy to get some play. When Plough was employed elsewhere, the team played Rodrigues, Hastings, and Tompkins in the first game of the 2021 Spring season, and it didn’t cause a controversy.

Good call, there are some opportunities on the horizon to develop QB2 for sure.

$460k does seem low for an ACC team, but it might not include the TV money from the ACC Network either, who knows. Also might not include the expenses that the host sometimes covers in money games: flights, hotels, meals, whatever. Sometimes they do this, but not always.

NWS going with 101 for Saturday. Why is this game at 1 pm? I would hope SMU would retain some influence over game times for their third tier ACC+ or whatever games. It doesn't need to be early for some national tv window. Sucks for anyone going, including the teams.

I believe SMU has an artificial playing surface which will suck for the players. 120 - 130F on the field. Last Saturday South Carolina played in Columbia at 12:45p and the temperature was 98F. The playing surface (grass) was around 105F. Kent State was gassed midway through the 2nd quarter.

Not only is it ridiculously uncomfortable but, this kind of heat and humidity, is actually very dangerous for the players and the fans alike. Look at the disaster we had at Aggie Stadium years ago when the temperature hit 100 degrees or more and we have dry heat here not suffocating humid heat. Fans were dropping like flies and people were being carted off to the hospital. Starting the game in Dallas at this time of the day is about the money they get from the telecast at this time slot and not about the safety of the players and fans.

I don’t get why Davis doesn’t have a grass football field when the practice field is grass. The soccer, baseball, and softball fields are all grass.

Wikipedia say the stadium surface is Bermuda Grass

Thankfully SMU plays on natural grass....

Isn't SMU forgoing all conference media revenue for some period far into the future? I guess they just signed up for the tv deal and did not negotiate themselves any leverage in these situations. ACC wants you in the early window, that's when you play.

Our payout for this game is $460k which seems a little on the low side for a Power4 opponent two time zones away.

Yes this is all just speculation, meant for football discussion, nothing more. In the end I want what we all want, a championship at Davis. I trust coach to make the decision and have full confidence in his decision.

Sorry, didn't mean for this to be a QB1 vs QB2 argument, just thinking ahead at the coming games and trying to predict which QB might be the best in the end.

Go Aggies beat the Pony's!

100% agree with you.

Those do seem a bit low, but to get more money we have to raise our school profile. Playing in Texas is going to do just that. Texas like California has a ton of kids who play football and if we can get a couple kids to choose Davis in the future, these game might be what does it.

I stand corrected! The field will be a bit cooler than an artificial surface. Texas heat is much like Central Valley heat. Not humid like here in the Carolinas.

Would've liked $750,000 minimum
I mean, for an in-California trip, $400,000 is a decent number, but like DrMike said, two time zones, Power 4, highly ranked, recently in the FBS Playoff...come on.

SMU team has a payroll, feels weird saying that, of $16.9M and all players earn a base NIL salary of $36K, I think this is on top of the scholarship money that pays for their tuition.