Chuck
August 7th, 2007, 07:48 PM
There’s a new Dustin Grutza in the University of Cincinnati’s preseason camp this summer.
His passes have more zip. He appears relaxed, confident, in charge.
“He’s not a finished product,” said UC football coach Brian Kelly. “But he’s starting to look like a Big East quarterback.”
Grutza’s teammates have noticed a difference. They’ve also noticed how hard Grutza worked during the offseason to prepare himself for the challenge from newcomer Ben Mauk.
“He’s learning to become a true quarterback now,” said UC safety Haruki Nakamura, Grutza’s roommate. “Coach Kelly has really been stressing the point that you have to be a good technician to be a quarterback and you have to be a leader.
"He’s become more consistent since the spring. I know he’s worked really hard over the summer. He put in a lot of hours. He’s definitely been impressive.”
While Mauk is still feeling his way as he attempts to revive his career after a shoulder injury prematurely ended his season at Wake Forest last year, Grutza has clearly been UC’s best quarterback in the early going.
He credits his improvement to the work he did during the summer and the adjustments in his mechanics that Kelly helped him make. He’s also stronger than he was a year ago.
“A lot of it is footwork,” Grutza said, “making sure I get my hips through. That’s been helping a lot. I was using too much arm. It’s not just arm strength. It’s using your body. It’s kind of like I knew it before but you get into some bad habits. I just had to get back into some good mechanics.”
Grutza, a junior from Maysville, Ky., completed 60.9 percent of his passes last season with nine touchdowns and 13 interceptions, ranking fifth in the Big East in pass efficiency. He also rushed for 246 yards.
He started the Bearcats’ first 10 games in 2006, but was replaced by Nick Davila for the Rutgers game on Nov. 18 because of an injury.
Davila led the Bearcats to a 30-11 upset of the seventh-ranked Scarlet Knights. Grutza started the regular-season finale against Connecticut, but was relieved by Davila, who then started the Bearcats’ International Bowl victory over Western Michigan.
During the offseason, Kelly brought in Mauk, who put up prolific passing numbers in high school.
The message to Grutza was clear: If he intended to be UC’s starting quarterback in 2007, he would have to improve.
“He’s really been mature about the whole thing,” tight end Connor Barwin said of Grutza. “I’ve never heard him complaining about it at all. That might have been what spurred him to work so much harder. When you bring in a quarterback that started at Wake Forest and the media loves him, it’s definitely a challenge.”
The 6-foot-2, 195-pound Grutza says he doesn’t spend much time gauging his competition with Mauk.
“You can’t think about that,” Grutza said. “You have to just go out there and play and have fun while you’re out there. While the other quarterbacks are going, I’m trying to make my reads like I was the quarterback. Every time they’re out there, I’m trying to get a mental rep at the same time.”
It’s far too early to say that Grutza is the favorite be UC’s starting quarterback for the Aug. 30 opener against Southeast Missouri State.
“I think he should be where he is,” Kelly said. “If he wasn’t where he is and didn’t have some separation (from the other quarterbacks), we didn’t do a very good job coaching him in the spring.”
Still, Grutza has performed so well that he has sent a message of his own to Mauk, to the coaching staff and to his other UC teammates: He won’t forfeit his job without a fight.
“Dustin’s a competitor,” Nakamura said. “That’s what years of experience here have taught him, especially with all the things we’ve gone through. He’s matured a ton. He knows the competition level is there and he’s going to compete every time he steps on the field.”
(Source (http://news.enquirer.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070806/SPT0101/308060075))
His passes have more zip. He appears relaxed, confident, in charge.
“He’s not a finished product,” said UC football coach Brian Kelly. “But he’s starting to look like a Big East quarterback.”
Grutza’s teammates have noticed a difference. They’ve also noticed how hard Grutza worked during the offseason to prepare himself for the challenge from newcomer Ben Mauk.
“He’s learning to become a true quarterback now,” said UC safety Haruki Nakamura, Grutza’s roommate. “Coach Kelly has really been stressing the point that you have to be a good technician to be a quarterback and you have to be a leader.
"He’s become more consistent since the spring. I know he’s worked really hard over the summer. He put in a lot of hours. He’s definitely been impressive.”
While Mauk is still feeling his way as he attempts to revive his career after a shoulder injury prematurely ended his season at Wake Forest last year, Grutza has clearly been UC’s best quarterback in the early going.
He credits his improvement to the work he did during the summer and the adjustments in his mechanics that Kelly helped him make. He’s also stronger than he was a year ago.
“A lot of it is footwork,” Grutza said, “making sure I get my hips through. That’s been helping a lot. I was using too much arm. It’s not just arm strength. It’s using your body. It’s kind of like I knew it before but you get into some bad habits. I just had to get back into some good mechanics.”
Grutza, a junior from Maysville, Ky., completed 60.9 percent of his passes last season with nine touchdowns and 13 interceptions, ranking fifth in the Big East in pass efficiency. He also rushed for 246 yards.
He started the Bearcats’ first 10 games in 2006, but was replaced by Nick Davila for the Rutgers game on Nov. 18 because of an injury.
Davila led the Bearcats to a 30-11 upset of the seventh-ranked Scarlet Knights. Grutza started the regular-season finale against Connecticut, but was relieved by Davila, who then started the Bearcats’ International Bowl victory over Western Michigan.
During the offseason, Kelly brought in Mauk, who put up prolific passing numbers in high school.
The message to Grutza was clear: If he intended to be UC’s starting quarterback in 2007, he would have to improve.
“He’s really been mature about the whole thing,” tight end Connor Barwin said of Grutza. “I’ve never heard him complaining about it at all. That might have been what spurred him to work so much harder. When you bring in a quarterback that started at Wake Forest and the media loves him, it’s definitely a challenge.”
The 6-foot-2, 195-pound Grutza says he doesn’t spend much time gauging his competition with Mauk.
“You can’t think about that,” Grutza said. “You have to just go out there and play and have fun while you’re out there. While the other quarterbacks are going, I’m trying to make my reads like I was the quarterback. Every time they’re out there, I’m trying to get a mental rep at the same time.”
It’s far too early to say that Grutza is the favorite be UC’s starting quarterback for the Aug. 30 opener against Southeast Missouri State.
“I think he should be where he is,” Kelly said. “If he wasn’t where he is and didn’t have some separation (from the other quarterbacks), we didn’t do a very good job coaching him in the spring.”
Still, Grutza has performed so well that he has sent a message of his own to Mauk, to the coaching staff and to his other UC teammates: He won’t forfeit his job without a fight.
“Dustin’s a competitor,” Nakamura said. “That’s what years of experience here have taught him, especially with all the things we’ve gone through. He’s matured a ton. He knows the competition level is there and he’s going to compete every time he steps on the field.”
(Source (http://news.enquirer.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070806/SPT0101/308060075))