Sports fodder for a Friday morning ... Welcome to the National Football League, Colin Kaepernick. It took all of one NFL game - a practice game, no less - for Kaepernick to receive more criticism than he had to absorb in all of his highlight-filled Nevada Wolf Pack career. Kaepernick completed just 9-of-19 passes for 117 yards last weekend against the New Orleans Saints reserves. He was intercepted twice and fumbled twice. He also was sacked about half as many times (four) as he used to get sacked in an entire season at Nevada. The performance of Kaepernick and Alex Smith, as well as the Swiss cheese offensive line (they allowed six sacks), forced the 49ers this week to go out and get veteran quarterback Josh McCown, a NFL bust who was coaching high school football. The NFL is not for the faint of heart, especially if you play quarterback.
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How ugly was the performance of the 49ers' offense in the 24-3 loss to the Saints? Well, one Bay Area columnist suggested that the 49ers are trying to tank the 2011 season on purpose so they can select Stanford quarterback Andrew Luck with the number one pick in next year's draft. Yes, it has been a difficult week for Kaepernick. In addition to the signing of McCown, 49ers head coach Jim Harbaugh also told the media that Smith has looked so good in practice this week that he has separated himself from Kaepernick. Kaepernick, some reports have suggested, could eventually slip behind McCown on the depth chart to No. 3.
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The 49ers were wonderfully blessed with an abundance of quarterback talent for more than five decades with, among others, Frankie Albert, Y.A. Tittle, John Brodie, Steve DeBerg, Jim Plunkett, Joe Montana, Steve Young and Jeff Garcia. The last decade or so, though, has been one Ken Dorsey, Cody Pickett, Tim Rattay, Trent Dilfer, a couple guys named Smith and a J.T. O'Sullivan after another. Are the 49ers paying the price now for all of their quarterback riches from 1946 through 2003? Are they cursed at quarterback? That's what Kaepernick is up against in San Francisco. The days of 49er fans (and 49er coaches) being patient with their struggling quarterback are long gone.
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The Wolf Pack has its own issues to worry about this season. One of the overlooked adjustments this Pack team will have to make is along the offensive line. Talent and experience is not the issue. The Pack lost a couple offensive linemen (tackle Jose Acuna and guard John Bender) off last year's team but Steve Haley (guard) and Joel Bitonio (tackle) will step right in and excel. The issue is how well the offensive line adjusts to a different style of blocking for quarterback Tyler Lantrip. In the passing game, there will be more drop back passes this year. There will be more passes of all kinds. Kaepernick averaged 165 rushing carries a year the last three years. Lantrip likely won't come close to that. And the running game - and this is just a wild guess - won't have as many 60-yard runs down the sideline by the quarterback as they did in the Kaepernick era. Lantrip will run a bit but it won't be the same as blocking for one of the greatest running quarterbacks in the history of college football.
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When, exactly, will the national media finally discover the story of the year in Major League Baseball? The Arizona Diamondbacks, one of the worst organizations in baseball in recent years, are shocking the world in the National League West. Kirk Gibson should a hands-down lock to win Manager of the Year. And they are doing it with a bunch of grinders, role players and spare parts for the most part.
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Not much has gone right for the San Francisco Giants this year. The everyday lineup, it seems, is either headed to the disabled list, on the disabled list or just coming off it. They've lost two of their best players (Buster Posey and Freddy Sanchez) and solid contributors from a year ago (namely Aubrey Huff, Cody Ross, Pat Burrell and Andres Torres) have struggled all year. It's a minor miracle (a major miracle was winning the World Series last year) that they are still in the N.L. West race. If Gibson doesn't win Manager of the Year, the Giants' Bruce Bochy should because of the way he's kept this team in the race with tape, glue, paste and string.
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How much patience will Wolf Pack fans have for this football team? Will a blowout loss at Oregon cause Pack fans to start to jump off the bandwagon? How about a loss at Texas Tech? Will a loss at Boise State completely empty the bandwagon? How much of a grace period did last year earn this Wolf Pack football program? That's what this season is all about. It's not really about a Western Athletic Conference title. A WAC title is all well and good for coach Chris Ault and the players to talk about. But hardly anyone outside the inner circle of the program truly cares about the WAC anymore. This year is all about keeping alive the momentum generated by last year's dream season.
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