| Florida State senior EJ Manuel headlines a unique group of elite ACC quarterbacks from Virginia (US Presswire) |
When scanning the BCS conferences looking for a crop of elite quarterbacks, the ACC is not always going to be the first place you look. However, there is a unique group at that position in 2012 with a chance to change your mind.
Clemson wide receiver Sammy Watkins was picked by the media as the ACC Preseason Player of the Year, but just behind him were three quarterbacks - Virginia Tech's Logan Thomas, Florida State's EJ Manuel, and Clemson's Tajh Boyd - all separated by just three votes. Continue to scroll down the ballot results and you'll find NC State's Mike Glennon and a vote for North Carolina quarterback Bryn Renner.
All five quarterbacks are returning starters after leading their team to winning seasons in 2011, all five quarterbacks threw for at least 2,500 yards at 18 touchdowns (Boyd, Glennon, and Renner each threw over 25), and all five finished in the top half of the conference in passer rating.
All five quarterbacks also share a similar upbringing from the state of Virginia.
| NC State's Mike Glennon was the 2008 AP Player of the Year in Virginia (US Presswire) |
"Mike Glennon and I are good friends, we've been together the past week at Elite 11, I've known him since 10th grade," explained EJ Manuel at the ACC Football Kickoff this week in Greensboro, N.C.. "Tajh Boyd, I've known him since I was in sixth grade. Logan Thomas and I have kept in contact. I know Phil Sims is now at UVa, I've known him for a long time too.
"I think it's awesome, we're starting to get some notoriety. We're all from the same state, and we can be proud of it. Obviously we played for different teams but there's still some type of state bond that we all have."
Alabama transfer and Chesapeake, Va. native Phillip Sims will be competing with Michael Rocco, from Lynchburg, and David Watford, from from Hampton, for the starting job in Charlottesville. That means that when the season kicks off in just five short weeks; half of the ACC teams will be starting a Virginia native under center.
The potency of football talent in the state comes as no surprise. The Tidewater/Hampton Roads area, in particular, has long been a coveted recruiting ground by college coaches throughout the Southeast and Mid-Atlantic. But Manuel explained that the success is not just in those traditional recruiting hotbeds, but across the entire state.
"I think Virginia football is getting a lot better," Manuel said. "Virginia Tech's been paying dividends on that for a long time. Coach Beamer was smart and got a lot of guys from the same place."
Beamer's job to keep those players coming to Blacksburg has gotten tougher as the state's profile has risen. Fifteen players from Mike London's 2012 recruiting class at Virginia came from in-state, and the rest of the conference is just as interested.
But this particular group of Virginia quarterbacks does not just lean on the state's football history, they have plenty of their own. When Michael Vick - arguably the best quarterback in Virginia history - was being named to his second Pro Bowl in 2004, Bryn Renner and Mike Glennon were just getting their rivalry started.
The two quarterbacks grew up 15 from each other - Glennon is from Centreville, Va., Renner from in West Springfield - and competed against each other in a JV basketball game. Both quarterbacks told the story of Renner scoring 45 points, but the North Carolina quarterback did not come away unscathed.
"I am a better basketball player. I'll admit that," Renner laughed. "This is a funny story. I was on the varsity team as a freshmen and when we played his team I got moved down to J.V. for a game and I shot a three-pointer, he came out and put his hand in my face and broke my nose, but I made the shot. I got a foul too."
From basketball tournaments to football camps, this particular crop of ACC quarterbacks from Virginia have known each other for nearly a decade in some cases. They have been tabbed as some of the elite arms in their classes, and have only grown because of it. In the case of Glennon and Manuel, they met at the Elite 11 camp as participants and then were invited to return and work the camp during this past offseason.
"I think working the camps - the Manning camp and the Elite 11 - have really helped [Glennon's] development," N.C. State coach Tom O'Brien said on Monday.
The ACC may not be known for great quarterbacks, but this is certainly a time when they could use them. Elite quarterback play, in theory, should mean that the offenses are producing points. While defenses win championship, you still need to score more points than the opponent to win games - particularly big games. The ACC has been criticized for not producing a national title contender in the modern era, and going 2-13 in BCS games. If the league is going to silence the naysayers, they will need to step up and match their hype with on-field success on the big stage.
"We're getting the same recruits that LSU would get, or Oregon, or USC," Manuel explained. "We're getting the same caliber guys so it's only right that we start going out there and making those things come to life. A lot of people talk about SEC, and rightfully so. Those guys have been in the national championship the last six years - that's crazy. I think an ACC team needs to step up, and we can be the team to do that."
But before competing for a national championship, Florida State will need to win the ACC. The Seminoles are favored to win the conference, but Manuel has several familiar foes to out-duel in order to get there.
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