Bluegrassrivals

For University of Cincinnati football coach Brian Kelly, it must have been like trying to decide if he should drive the Rolls or the Bentley.

He has senior Tony Pike, a sleek 6-foot-6 model with a powerful arm and plenty of experience who only a few weeks ago was considered a legitimate candidate for the Heisman Trophy.

http://news.cincinnati.com/article/20091...will+start

Or Kelly can turn to 6-foot sophomore Zach Collaros, a speedier model who is 3-0 as a starter in Pike’s absence and last Saturday set a school and Big East Conference record for total yards with 555 yards in UC’s 47-45 victory over Connecticut.

Kelly spent some mulling it over during the weekend, and decided he would go with Pike at quarterback Friday night when No. 5 UC (9-0 overall, 5-0 in the Big East) faces West Virginia (7-2, 3-1) at Nippert Stadium.

“If Tony is fully healthy, he’s our starter,” Kelly said Monday. “The issue is if this becomes day-to-day. There’s so much out of my hands relative to the risk factor. If that’s not an issue and you take Tony Pike’s body of work, Tony Pike is the starter. There’s no question about that.”


But there certainly was question about it immediately after the UConn game Saturday when the UC coach said Collaros was making it difficult to automatically go with a healthy Pike.


“I was dead serious,” Kelly said. “I went back and thought about the plusses and minuses. There’s a lot of plusses with both guys. After careful consideration, Tony is our guy.


“He’s at the level he needs to be. He’s 6-6. He can see the entire field. He’s got a great arm. All the things he’s shown this season, I haven’t forgotten about any of that stuff. I really had to spend some time thinking about this decision. It’s a difficult one

I think you'll see a dual QB system, shake things up keep the D honest, IMO Collario has proven him self and the guys believe in him more than pike at this point so you have utilize him in some way...Otherwise the team may now back Kelley

I personally like the decision to start Pike. In my opinion the team is better as a whole with him starting.

Now we are back to Collaros

http://news.cincinnati.com/article/20091...s+to+start

Brian Kelly said Tuesday morning that Zach Collaros will start in Friday's game against West Virignia at quarterback. On Monday, Kelly had said Tony Pike would start if he was healthy.

Pike is a sleek 6-foot-6 model with a powerful arm and plenty of experience who only a few weeks ago was considered a legitimate candidate for the Heisman Trophy

Six-foot sophomore Zach Collaros is a speedier model who is 3-0 as a starter in Pike’s absence and last Saturday set a school and Big East Conference record for total yards with 555 yards in UC’s 47-45 victory over Connecticut.

Kelly had spent some mulling over the situation during the weekend. On Monday he said he'd decided he would go with Pike at quarterback Friday night when No. 5 UC (9-0 overall, 5-0 in the Big East) faces West Virginia (7-2, 3-1) at Nippert Stadium, but only if PIke was healthy.

“If Tony is fully healthy, he’s our starter,” Kelly said Monday. “The issue is if this becomes day-to-day. There’s so much out of my hands relative to the risk factor. If that’s not an issue and you take Tony Pike’s body of work, Tony Pike is the starter. There’s no question about that.”


The issue was raised immediately after the UConn game Saturday when the UC coach said Collaros was making it difficult to automatically go with a healthy Pike.


“I was dead serious,” Kelly said. “I went back and thought about the plusses and minuses. There’s a lot of plusses with both guys."


Pike has not played since he re-injured his left, non-throwing forearm on Oct. 15 at South Florida. He underwent surgery the following week to repair a damaged plate that had been placed in the arm last year after he broke it.

i would go with what they have rolling now if he slips up bring in pike to clean it up

As a Cincinnati fan I like Pike but he could be a little rusty after the injury. Before the injury he was the most complete qb in the nation hands down. The other kid is very talented as well though. Its a win/win situation.

It looks like Collaros will be the starter with Pike getting select snaps throughout the game.