HT: 6-1 | WT: 228 | AGE: 22 | YR: Senior
By Rod Gilmore
Special to ESPN.com
Jarious Jackson embodies the modern-day quarterback in college football and, as we are starting to see, in pro football. What he brings to the game is a rare combination of size, strong arm, speed, and ability to throw on the run.
Jackson could wind up being the single-season passing efficiency leader at Notre Dame. But not only is he the ninth-ranked passer in the nation; the Notre Dame signal-caller has also rushed for 378 yards, twice as many as Tee Martin, and seven touchdowns. At 235 pounds, Jackson is almost like a lineman in the backfield, a big fullback when you try to tackle him.
What also impresses me about Jackson is his ability in the option game. It's one thing for a quarterback to drop back and make a play when nothing is there. But it's another for a quarterback to attack the defense. Jackson can attack the defense unlike any other quarterback in college football. Defenders must get in front of him to tackle him. He will break through any arm tackles and make big plays.
Jackson has had a good season and hung tough despite some heart-breaking, late-game finishes when Notre Dame failed to make the right decisions or made mistakes. People forget he is playing with a lot of youth around him. Most of the mistakes we see from Notre Dame aren't his.
The nation watches when Notre Dame plays, and they watch the Notre Dame quarterback. And Jackson has handled himself very well under tough circumstances. But as the quarterback of the highest profile team in the nation, the focus goes to him. |
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HT: 6-3 | WT: 215 | AGE: 21 | YR: Senior
By Bill Curry
Special to ESPN.com
Tee Martin and Jarious Jackson have some things in common. Each hails from the south, one from Alabama (Martin), and one from Mississippi (Jackson). These are states that take their football so seriously that some consider it an act of treason for a high school player to attend any out-of-state institution, especially a rival, or worse, a "yankee" college.
Both men are extremely intelligent, even gifted, having simultaneously mastered the intricacies of secondary education and today's complex quarterback position. Having displayed uncommon courage simply by going out of state, they now practice it daily as they manage the incredible pressure of public glare and unreasonable expectation. Obviously, they are remarkable human beings.
Asked to pick between them, I sit wavering, back and forth. Hmmm ... Jackson runs the option so well, throws so well, has endured more tough losses. On the other hand, Martin convinced me the night before his first start (at Syracuse, in a game at which I was analyst) that he would be a great one.
Martin's calm, bright preparedness intimated that he just might manage what the great Peyton Manning could not at Tennessee -- a national championship. He did.
In a head-to-head matchup with Jackson, I would pick Martin. He manages details better than Jackson: the clock, timeouts, crowd noise, red-zone intricacies, and the like.
And the only loss on his resume had something to do with a smashed face from a sideline camera in Gainesville, Fla. It was no one's fault, and he never complained, but one wonders if he might not have prevailed with all his faculties intact.
Consider this record: 19-1. That is Martin's mark as a starting quarterback at Tennessee, an amazing record in this era of parity. I predict that Martin will improve that mark to 20-1 in Knoxville on Saturday night against Jackson and Notre Dame.
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