Don't give up on "Tommy"
He's a name Brand
Darrell Copeland III |
TOM BRANDSTATER is not a household name — yet.
As a matter of fact, at this point, he probably couldn’t be further away from a household name at this point. Gee whiz, people still call the guy “Brand-statter.” (For those of you with guilty looks on your faces, it’s Brand-state-er).
The sophomore quarterback has already received his fair share of criticism — as undeserved as it may be — only three games in his first year as the Bulldogs’ starting quarterback.
Through three games this season, Brandstater has completed passes at a 55 percent clip, completing 43 of his 78 passes with three touchdowns and three interceptions.
Andrew Riggs / The Collegian
Fresno State quarterback Tom Brandstater scrambles out of pressure in the Bulldogs’ 21-20 loss against the Washington Huskies last Saturday. |
But alas, you get no breaks when you are the Fresno State starting quarterback, at least not from the fans.
Of course, it’s easy to pick on “Tommy” as Fresno State coach Pat Hill calls him, but when the Bulldogs’ record falls below .500, Brandstater is the easiest one to point the finger at.
“Tommy’s got a lot of pressure on his shoulders,” Hill said. “I think he’s handling it well.
“I think he’s doing a very, very good job for us at this stage of his career. I think he’s only going to get better.”
It’s funny how Hill is beloved by Bulldogs fans — at least most of them — that credit Hill and put faith in him as the person who brought Fresno State football to prominence.
Having said that, one might think that those same people would have the same belief in Hill’s ability to select personnel.
Fact of the matter is, Brandstater has displayed incredible toughness, above average scrambling ability and outstanding composure through his first three games, hardly any of which count in the minds of too many Fresno State fans.
We’ll go ahead and call them fickle fans.
The only fair criticism is Brandstater’s accuracy on his throws, which can only improve with more game experience pass attempts.
“We’d like to have him completing the ball more,” Hill said. “I thought he was aiming it a little bit this last game.”
OK, so Brandstater is human after all, but inconsistency for a first year starting quarterback is nothing new. It’s something he’ll grow out of.
“I’m very, very satisfied with his progress,” Hill said. “Is it perfect? No. Are we making good progress? Yes …
“He’s going to the right spots, he’s making the right reads; we just gotta make the hookups. We know he’s capable of doing that and that’s gonna come.”
See, hold your horses and simmer down, Tommy’s gonna be just fine.
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