with all due respect for a guy who posts as clowncar, i'm yet again hearing Swoopes will start from a different source.
What does starting mean other than relieving pressure on the second semester freshman? I'd assume we wait til at least the 2nd drive for Buechele. If Swoopes somehow leads a TD drive then I imagine we'll stick with him for a bit, but if not I expect the training wheels will come off real quick...
It makes sense, try to take the spotlight off of the kid as much as humanly possible when we've been starved for a QB since the 2009 season, but I'm not sure that's doable. Also not sure if Charlie has the brains to think this far ahead, but I hope the new OC does or maybe someone else got in his ear and convinced him.
I'm expecting a standard Charlie Strong, conservative game plan trying to milk the clock as much as we can from the opening kickoff. Swoopes begins then gives the reins to Buechele with a fair amount of Heard coming in to run the Wildcat (especially if the two QBs struggle), but I'm also unsure the game plan will change if we are getting blown out because we don't really have a high-flying option. Maybe under? Think we're gonna have to start fast with a stop on defense, which we did last year only to get rocked, but the terrible punt on our first possession put us in a really tough spot.
Think the mortgage should go on ND receiving the opening kickoff. Not sure about either coach's tendencies, but Kelly has got to want to get his offense on the field to kill our spirit and Strong should want to use as little Swoopes as possible after that experiment hasn't worked for years (thanks Mack!)