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Sports TwitterRedHawks backup QB has starting mentality
Raudabaugh says last season opened his eyes to importance of always being ready.
Friday, August 24, 2007
OXFORD — The Miami University football team played a mock scrimmage with game situations Thursday night at Yager Stadium.
Sophomore quarterback Daniel Raudabaugh spent his time during this tuneup on the sideline, doing nothing that involved throwing or even holding a football.
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Miami head coach Shane Montgomery hopes the talented quarterback from Coppell, Texas, will be just as inactive next Thursday when the RedHawks open their season at Ball State.
But as the No. 2 man behind starter Mike Kokal, Raudabaugh has to play the part of the Massachusetts Minuteman.
He has to be ready at a moment's notice.
Backup quarterback is one of the more difficult jobs in college football. Most likely, you'll play in a crucial situation only if the starter — usually a good friend — becomes injured or ineffective. You have to expect it to happen while hoping it does not.
"Coach (Montgomery) stresses that as a backup, you're always one play away from being a starter," Raudabaugh said.
He said last year's game against Cincinnati at Nippert Stadium "really opened my eyes" in terms of being prepared to step in.
Last Sept. 30, just a couple hours before game time, Raudabaugh was informed that he would start against the Bearcats because Kokal was having headaches and dizziness.
Raudabaugh completed 21-of-47 passes for 190 yards. If he is forced to replace Kokal next week, he's confident he can do even better.
"I've been preparing as if I were the starter," he said.
The preparation, Raudabaugh said, involves "watching films outside of scheduled meetings. You have to study certain tendencies that defenders have. And you have to know where everybody is on the field, both offense and defense, and what they're doing."
Raudabaugh said he is lucky to be coached by Montgomery, "who knows this game inside and out," along with passing game coordinator Brian Von Bergen and assistant coaches (and former Miami quarterbacks) J.D. Vonderheide and Mike Bath, "who has been like a big brother."
Contact this reporter at (513) 820-2197 or pconrad@coxohio.com.
