Column: QBs impressive, but can they do it against I-A?

Mike Schneider had nothin' doing on third down: nine yards to move the chains and not a receiver open as Duke charged into Western Carolina halfway through the second quarter Saturday. But the Blue Devils' freshman quarterback did a good job making the most of it--as he did for most of his first college start--and charged, head on and head up, into two defenders.

 It was too bad, then, that Catamount linebacker Lamar Barnes laid one helluva hit into that head of Schneider's, ending the freshman's day with a concussion before Schneider could fully prove why head coach Carl Franks gave him the starting nod.

 But it wasn't a bad turn of events for Adam Smith, who had stood on the sidelines after a long week of smarting from an awful performance at Virginia and of knowing he wasn't going to lead the offense--until now. Smith strutted in after a timeout and, on the very next play, flung a 24-yard pass across the field to Khary Sharpe, who fell into first and goal as Smith fell right back into the spotlight.

 Franks called the transition "a good example of never knowing when your chance is going to come. Mike Schneider starts the game, and we move the ball right down the field. He's doing pretty good--made a few mistakes after that first drive--but he gets hurt, there's Adam's chance again. He made the most of it. And I was proud of the way that he handled himself through the week knowing that Mike was going to start, so I was just proud of the way he handled the situation. He did it very professionally."

 That sense of professionalism could be attributed to Smith's performance this weekend, just the same. He was by no means stellar, and playing against a Division I-AA team never gives that fair a portrayal. But Smith led Duke back from season opening misery, even if his play didn't give as much promise for the future as Schneider's.

 After the game-turning pass to Sharpe, Smith got right back under center and flung the ball into the endzone for Reggie Love, his second pass in as many plays. Now Love is 6-foot-4, and a fade pass to that gigantic a target against a 5-foot-9 cornerback doesn't take star potential--freshman, sophomore, whatever. But while Schneider tried to stop his head from spinning on the trainer's bench, an easy touchdown was good enough for a team that just had to remember how to score.

 From then on, Smith made some clever screen passes and showed some potential for his otherwise non-existent running ability, but the sense of stagnation in his passing game--the same one that saw him muster just six complete passes in 20 attempts for a measly 47 yards against Virginia--was still there.

 On his second drive, Smith he telegraphed a play action pass to no one on second down and then, later, lazily lobbed a deep pass on third-and-four to a diving Andy Roland, who wasn't anywhere near the ball.

 After collecting a rushing touchdown from a drive that only had to go one yard, Smith jumped into the second half and showed a few more signs of weakness. Two plays after hitting Alex Wade over the middle in his helmet, Smith fumbled and quickly recovered the dropped ball.

 And when Duke was on its final scoring drive in the fourth quarter, the Blue Devils relied heavily upon Chris Douglas and the running game, rather than on Smith, who smacked his head after rolling right and firing a long pass and then deliberately pump-faked into a head-on, blistering sack before finishing the scoring with another fade to Love.

 But, hey, anything's better than last week. Franks said he thought Smith was "tremendously better, much more consistent [and] had a lot more control of what he was doing. He hit a lot more plays, audibled a lot better. Not to say he wasn't the same guy. I knew he was disappointed throughout the week. Who wouldn't be? But he didn't let it show."

 Schneider, meanwhile, showed off plenty, never letting the fireworks that the team ran onto the field with die down. He called an audible at the line for his first pass of the day, hitting Love for 16 yards. He also showed confidence in scrambling--what Franks called "a dimension of escapability"--in leading Duke to its first score.

 The rookie stood in the pocket to wait and fire a strong cross to Lance Johnson on the next drive, and he showed some savvy when he jumped out on a run and then shovel-passed to Wade three plays later, just before the end of his quick stint as starter.

 As for next week, Franks said he'd wait to make sure Schneider would be ready for next week before even getting into making a decision about his starter. But at the end of a long day, Duke at least came out with a win--and a couple of intriguing options.

 "I'm not sure what's going to happen," Smith said, "but it's just kind of the way things go. You've got to find someone who can get the job done, so it's just the way things go around here."