It has been the best of times and it has been the worst of times for fifth year seniors Jarrett Lee and Matt Simms who have had their struggles and successes in their respective careers.
LSU quarterback Lee and Tennessee’s quarterback Simms both have football in their blood. Simms’s father, Phil Simms, was a quarterback for the York Giants and Lee’s father
[caption id="attachment_106" align="alignright" width="300" caption="Jarret Lee now has the starting role as Jordan Jefferson watches from the sideline."]
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was his offensive coordinator at Brenham high school. This might come with a price. Both players had extremely high expectations coming into their respective programs and wanted to showcase their abilities not only as a quarterback, but as a leader of the team. Both began their careers as starters, but found themselves as backups entering their redshirt senior seasons.
Jarrett Lee’s nightmare season of 2008
Lee redshirted as a true freshman in 2007 and after expected starter Ryan Perrilloux was kicked off the team in 2008 Lee was thrown into the spot light. After winning the BCS championship the previous year, the expectations were high for the Tigers. Lee got his dream job which turned out to be a nightmare. As a redshirt freshman, Lee was not ready for the tasks laid ahead of him, and threw 14 touchdowns and 16 interceptions (seven of which were returned for touchdowns). Lee started the first eight games of the season going 4-4 during those starts, but was side lined during the Ole Miss game due to a high ankle sprain. The Tigers finished the season 8-5. Lee was a perfect scapegoat for the disaster filled season and was called the Benedict Arnold of football by LSU fans. Few people would have blamed Lee for leaving LSU after his horrendous debut season. The all-time low point for Lee could be during the 27-21 overtime loss to then ranked No. 1 Alabama after the Tigers somehow blocked a field goal with three seconds left to force the game into overtime. Lee threw his fourth interception of the night during the next LSU possession, allowing Nick Saban to get his first win in Tiger Stadium as Alabama’s head coach.
"I was a young player, but that's college football," Lee said. "That's life and sometimes those things happen. I grew up a lot, and I wouldn't trade '08 for anything."
Lee did have some good moments during the ’08 season, but were mostly overshadowed by his misfortunes. Jordan Jefferson took over the starting job in 2009 and Lee appeared in one start in a victory over Louisiana Tech. The 2010 season saw Lee and Jefferson rotate snaps, with Jefferson receiving the bulk of the work load. Lee was instrumental in leading drives against Alabama and Tennessee. His game winning touchdown pass to Terrence Toliver sealed a victory against Florida. Despite this success, Jefferson was tabbed the starting quarterback for the 2011 season.
Matt Simms wins and loses starting role in one season
[caption id="attachment_111" align="alignright" width="300" caption="Simms and Bray have been competing for the starting position. Due to Bray's injury he will get a second chance."]
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As a junior college transfer to the University of Tennessee in 2010, Simms would have to prove his worthiness as a starting quarterback and as a team leader. Simms was not even supposed to be in the running for the starting job. It was supposed to belong to Nick Stephens who had started some games in 2008. But after being demoted during spring training, Stephens left Tennessee to go to a school that would give him more starting time. Red shirt freshman, Tyler Bray, would be the other candidate for the starting position in 2010. Tennessee coach Derek Dooley decided that Simms would be the man for the job, saying that Bray would need to put on more weight and have some college experience before starting. Simms would be the first Tennessee quarterback since 2004 to start the season with the Vols without taking a snap prior to the opening game.
Simms led the team to a 2-6 record with 1460 passing yards five touchdown passes and eight interceptions. He was replaced by Bray who led Tennessee to four straight victories, finishing with his first lost against North Carolina at the Franklin American Mortgage Music City Bowl.
Things didn’t get any easier for Simms when his father publicly threated football analyst Desmond Howard for calling his son one of the worst quarterbacks in the SEC.
A series of unfortunate events allows both Lee and Simms a second chance
During the off season, weeks before the start of the 2011 season, Jordan Jefferson was suspended indefinitely for getting into a fight outside of a local bar in Baton Rouge. This created a huge swirl within the media and a tough decision for Coach Les Miles. Jefferson had been proclaimed to have made huge progress during the off season and was prepared to lead the Tigers to a national championship. However, due to Jefferson’s suspension, Lee was named the starter for the season opener against a No. 3 Oregon, and thus the haters began to crawl out of the shadows. A season full of hope turned into a season full of doubt, which all began with fans lack of confidence concerning Lee.
The recently anointed starter turned the doubts into fuel and has lead the Tigers to six straight double digit wins with the help of his teammates. Lee’s numbers are better than ever (60.2 percent completion with 947 yards passing with 8 touchdowns and just one interception). The sky is the limit for the 2011 Tigers and Lee’s attitude and hard work is part of the reason.
Sophomore quarterback Tyler Bray fractured his thumb during the fourth quarter of the Tennessee vs. Georgia game and is expected to be out for six weeks. Bray has started all six games this season and has lead the Vols to a 2-4 record. Coach Derek Dooley must now call on Simms to make his first start this season against the No. 1 ranked Tigers in Knoxville. The Vols suffered a heartbreaking loss against LSU last season in what seemed to be a victory, but was called back due to 12 men on the field giving the Tigers one more shot, which was all they needed.
At the beginning of the season, no one would have thought these two quarterbacks would be back in the driver’s seat, but here we are six games into the season with two fifth year seniors playing with something to prove. Both have had the starting job taken away from them and both are going to do anything to keep it. This is going to be a pivotal game for both quarterbacks and will teach us something about their character and will power at the very least.
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