Louisiana State: Ryan Perrilloux, the nation’s top prep quarterback in 2004, is in danger of becoming the nation’s biggest bust. The expected successor to Matt Flynn was suspended for spring practice after his latest off-field transgression: illegally entering a Mississippi River casino. Now he must battle redshirt freshman Jarrett Lee and junior Andrew Hatch when fall camp begins.
Miami: Second-year coach Randy Shannon must bounce back from a 5-7 season with a freshman quarterback after Kirby Freeman transferred to Baylor. No favorite emerged between redshirt freshman Robert Marve and true freshmen Jacory Harris and Cannon Smith. Harris led Miami’s Northwestern High School to back-to-back 15-0 records and state titles, but in the final spring scrimmage the trio completed only 20-of-44 for 233 yards and two interceptions.
Michigan: New coach Rich Rodriguez is starting his spread offense without a spread quarterback. Freshman Steven Threet and sophomore Nick Sheridan, both pro-style QBs, were even after spring although Threet played in a similar offense at nearby Adrian (Mich.) High. They get first shot after part-time returning starter Ryan Mallett bolted for Arkansas and super recruit Terrelle Pryor chose Ohio State.
Penn State: Going into Saturday’s spring game, senior Darryl Clark, considered a better runner than passer, had a slight edge over sophomore Pat Devlin, a better passer than runner. Clark came off the bench to lead the Alamo Bowl win over Texas A&M and Devlin is the Pennsylvania state high school career passing leader with 8,162 yards. He has thrown one pass for Penn State.
Southern California: Tuesday, USC named junior Mark Sanchez as the starter over Arkansas transfer Mitch Mustain, even with the final spring scrimmage four days away. Experience with the offense gave Sanchez the nod as he started three games a year ago, hitting 61 percent of his passes for 695 yards, seven touchdowns and five interceptions. Mustain went 8-0 for Arkansas as a freshman in 2006 and figures to get playing time.
John Henderson, The Denver Post
