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The Buchtelite

The Editorially Independent Voice of The University of Akron

The Buchtelite

The Editorially Independent Voice of The University of Akron

The Buchtelite

Quarterback Chris Jacquemain proves his worth Saturday

“I have never hesitated to criticize our football team. Whenever they mess up, I’m always more than willing to pounce all over them. That is why I feel it would only be right to give a compliment where a compliment is due. To be honest, I was not sold on this team, especially their quarterback Chris Jacquemain.”

I have never hesitated to criticize our football team.

Whenever they mess up, I’m always more than willing to pounce all over them.

That is why I feel it would only be right to give a compliment where a compliment is due. To be honest, I was not sold on this team, especially their quarterback Chris Jacquemain. In fact, I thought it would only be a matter of time before redshirt freshman Matt Rodgers took over.

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But after Saturday’s performance at Kent State, I’m convinced that the Mentor native is the right man for the job.

Will he lead us to a Mid-American Conference title a la Luke Getsy? Not as long as Nate Davis lines up under center for Ball State.

Will he ever attract the national media attention of a Charlie Frye? Highly unlikely.

But will he keep us in, as well as win us, ballgames or, dare I say, give us a shot in playing in a bowl game? Judging by his play Saturday, I don’t see any reason to think otherwise.

Sure you can look at the stat sheet and point out his three picks.

But anyone who actually watched the game will tell you that two of those should have been Zips receptions.

You can bring up the Ball State game in which he threw four to the other team. To me, that was nothing other than a bad day against a very talented team.

You can talk about last year’s struggles.

Anyone who can honestly tell me that the 2007 season was a fair assessment of Jacquemain’s talent obviously didn’t attend or even see highlights of a Zips game.

You can even throw his nine picks in my face.

When you consider Jabari Arthur accounted for 1,171 of the Zips 2,206 yards through the air last year, as well as the fact the team’s second leading receiver Bryan Williams now plays in the Zips secondary, it should be plain to see why there may be a few accuracy issues.

Not to mention the fact that injuries have depleted the running game so bad that Jeremy Bruce, all 5-foot-9 of him, has had to move from third receiver to another rushing option.

What you should be noting is that Jacquemain still has managed to complete 59 percent of his passes, while throwing for ten touchdowns halfway through the season even though injuries and personnel moves have totally shaken up the Zips offense.

I’m not saying he’s on the level of Chase Daniel. I don’t see him skipping his senior year for the draft.

I really don’t expect to see a lot of Jacquemain for Heisman posters flying around.

But what I do know is that I really like where this Zips team is headed with him at the helm.

And while he may never post the numbers of past UA signal callers, I am certain that Chris Jacquemain is the right guy for the Zips.

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