I admit that I was someone who wanted to give Emory a chance to compete. I figured that if we recruited a QB, he should be good enough to compete for a starting quarterback position when his time comes up. The coaches see Emory in practice every day, so they should also have insight. I was proven wrong in the second half of the Pop Tarts Bowl, unfortunately.
I have to go further to say that this was the worst performance by a backup Quarterback in any bowl I have watched this year. Most recently, for example, Duke’s third string QB was better than Emory, and so was the Ole Miss backup. Second and third string QBs played in a lot of bowls this year, and they all played better and were more prepared, regardless of the outcomes. I also wasn’t a fan of the Dawson play calls, and three weeks of preparation should have gotten Emory ready, just as the other programs prepared their backups. Emory also had to play with the WR backups, but so did other bowl-eligible programs.