If I were coach, I would go with TO to start the game and my decision has nothing to do with who will eventually win the job. Tobias has game experience and, more specifically, winning game experience in hostile environments when nobody expected it to happen. This will not be new to him. Additionally, he has played against Clemson already, having made some plays with his feet and completing tough passes out of the roll out etc. He was not in the least bit overwhelmed by the experience. It is very important to start out with a player who has confidence and has been there before. If we can't move the ball, then bring in one of the other two at that time. I think more of TO as a passer than many on this board, but, rest assured, I realize he is limited in the number and type of throws he can make with consistency. Eventually, we will need to stretch the field throwing, more than just sideline to sideline and 30 yards deep. Still, TO forces a defense to account for him in ways that they might not have to otherwise. This creates space like a PG in hoops penetrating and drawing the defense to him.
I am excited to get this thing going and finally bring an end to the hype machine in a vacuum, without results to scrutinize. Every person I talk to today gives us no chance. Personally, I think they are full of it. I give us about a 20% chance to pull this off. I guarantee you, if I were batting .200 on the season and striding to the batter's box right now, I would be very focused and confident about getting a hit this time up. Failure wouldn't even be in my mind.
Is it who is our starter, or who is behind center on the first play, or who is behind center for the entire first series? Because my opinion is it could be a different answer for all 3. I will be shocked if Lucas Johnson isn't our main QB. But that doesn't preclude us from running trick plays or using other QBs in certain situations, like how we used to bring Matthew Johnson in for goal line plays.
