When Jeff Quinn tweeted about the "Big Announcement" I think UB fans expected something more than they got. Chazz Anderson was the outgoing third string Quarterback at Cincinnati and he was being converted to a wide receiver.
Still a mobile Quarterback who knew Quinn, and his offense was more than Buffalo had going into the spring. The 2010 season left UB with two choices at Quarterback. Jerry Davis who's struggles lost him the job and Alex Zordich a determined Quarterback who completed less than half of his passes during his injury shortened stint as UB's starting Quarterback.
So Anderson's arrival was viewed as a chance to push six wins. No sane person expected much more than that this season but six wins seemed possible. But when the final whistle sounded against Bowling Green UB had one more win than the might have mustered without the "Chazz Man".
Anderson played pretty well throughout the season. Several of the teams better performances would not have happened with Anderson. Against the BobCats he racked up great numbers in a huge upset over the team that eventually took the MAC East.
His career day against Northern Illinois brought UB to within an extra point of overtime. It was, perhaps, the best showing by a UB Quarterback of the Modern era and it sparked hope that this team might do some damage later in the season.
But against Miami, when Alex Neutz went down, Anderson began to struggle. He would not top three hundred yards again and, with the exception of Akron, looked totally ineffective leading the Bulls.
Once the Bulls lost their seventh game there were questions of what to do at Quarterback, questions for everyone but Jeff Quinn who was going to ride Anderson to as many wins as he could.
Buffalo's second quarterback, Alex Zordich, had hardly seen any game day action since the injury which ended his 2010 season. Zorhich had thrown just eight passes before the Miami, that was more action than he would see the rest of the year.
In the blowout against Akron Zordich went one for four during the fourth Quarter, he spent the rest of the time handing the ball off.
There is no doubting that Anderson brought something to the team, but was it enough to justify losing a development year for Alex Zordich, Jerry Davis, or perhaps one of the true freshman? The move means that Goining into the spring UB has Alex Zordich, Jerry Davis, Tony Daniel, Aaron Huber, Joe Licata. Beetween all of them there were just 12 attempts in 2011.
This Spring
Davis may be a non factor in the competition this season. Though he won the position, narrowly, last spring he was bumped by Anderson and then Zordich. He is a senior and if Coach Quinn wants to instill any stability in this program he needs a quarterback who he can get more than one season out of.
Zordich enters the off season as the favorite for the second year in a row but as I already mentioned he lost the job last spring to Jerry Davis.
Licata is an interesting prospect. He looked good last summer and is one of the best Quarterbacks ever to come out of Western New York but he does not present any kind of a running threat.
Daniel and Huber are depth at this point. None of the freshman, including Licata, saw enough reps last season to really know where they will shake out. While I suspect Licata, the true pocket passer, gets something of an advantage it would not be suprising to see either of these names pop up.
The New Guys
Coming in this summer UB has several Quarterbacks who have already verbally committed.
Collin Michael has always been a star. Some Promising play early in his High School career had him on the radars of multiple big name schools. But a terrible knee injury sidelined him and bumped him down a bit. Collin, a pocket passer, stands at 6'5 and well over 210.
Mason Schreck does not jump off the page as an amazing prospect but physical attributes and his attitude were enough to garner interest from Buffalo and Toledo.
If Jeff Quinn wants to stick with the 'mobile' quarterback over the pocket passers than Jordan Johnson's athleticism will be a huge attribute. Like James Starks and Naaman Roosevelt he is a talented HS QB who might be destined for another skill position at the collegiate level.
There is a lot of reason to be excited about this springs quarterback competition. A half dozen guys competing for the job and there is a lot of talent. But there is not a whole lot of reason to be optimistic. Anderson and Davis have marginal career stats and have had to sit out the year for the Chazz Anderson experiment. Below them are three red shirt freshman who have yet to prove themselves, even in camp, at the collegiate level.