Don't forget Charlie Goro

These days, the vast majority of every Vandy football preview breaks down the quarterback situation like this:

1. Larry Smith is freaking terrible.
2. Jared Funk has been on the team 17 years and might get a shot.
3. But probably not because Jordan Rodgers is a great quarterback — or at least, Aaron Rodgers is a great quarterback and Jordan is his brother.

No mention of Charlie Goro.

We've been saying it for a while now — and the "Go Goro!" guy's been saying it for the past two years — that Goro is tough, he's a winner and he's going to surprise some people when he gets a shot.

Oh, and Moral Victory! readers now have granted Goro a 29-28 lead in our poll to see who fans think will be our starting QB. (The Go Goro Guy must have 29 computers. Just kidding, Go Goro Guy.)

But first let's breakdown what everybody's been saying about the Vandy quarterbacks:

1. Larry Smith is not terrible. Last season, Larry Smith played terrible after his offensive line broke down and his receivers dropped his 97th consecutive pass. If the Larry Smith we recruited in 2007 walked onto campus today, we'd be screaming for him to start right away. The kid's athletic, he's got a cannon, he was a big-time winner in high school and an authority no less than power lifter/D-line recruit Kyle Woestmann says he's never seen a quarterback as "jacked" as Larry. (Hopefully that means really, really strong.)
2. We've needed a quarterback since Chris Nickson started his junior season, which happened to be Jared Funk's second season on campus, so if he hasn't thrown a pass yet, I see no reason for him to do so now, unless he's in mop-up duty against Eastern Michigan.
3. Bobby Johnson's been saying since signing day that Rodgers has three years to play two, which means he's probably going to redshirt.

Maybe Larry will play the whole season, but at some point he's going to suffer some sort of injury (we've got only two linemen out of 15 who weigh 300+ pounds) and with Rodgers redshirting, Bobby will turn around and see Funk and Goro. Bobby's a loyal guy who may reward Funk for his stellar performance on the punt coverage team, but he'll likely turn to Goro in a hurry.

And if Larry's not injured, I think the staff will take precautions to keep him from getting that way, which may mean that Goro gets some snaps in short yardage situations. Woestmann, who's apparently an authority on the physical fitness levels of quarterbacks, says that he doesn't know if he could tackle Goro. (If you've seen Woestmann, you know he was experimenting with a bit of self-effacing humor.) His point is that Goro is a tough guy and a hard runner, and it wouldn't be a bad idea to use him in predetermined situations during big games.

Go Larry, and Go Goro!