BOO HIGHLY-REGARDED AS HE MOVES EAST
BOO JACKSON's career at Ohio University began officially on Wednesday's NCAA Signing Day.
Andrew Gribble of the Athens, Ohio, Post filed this story.
The phone’s been ringing off the hook all week inside the football offices at El Camino Junior College in Torrance, Calif. That’s what happens when 23 of your 40 graduating sophomores are headed to Division I schools and media outlets across the country are clamoring for quotes.
So when a call came in from Athens, Ohio, on Tuesday concerning the gem of Ohio’s 20-man recruiting class, quarterback “Boo” Jackson, Warriors coach John Featherstone was ready to chat.
“You’ve got a darn good quarterback coming your way,” Featherstone interjected before I could finish introducing myself.
“He’s got, like, a sixth sense.”Now you’ve peaked my interest. Go on.
“He sees the whole field, in terms of a quarterback throwing the ball,” the 23-year El Camino coach said. “He’s a very accurate thrower. He’s usually on the mark or right around the mark every time. He’s got tremendous feet and he can get you out of trouble real fast.
“You got a steal in Boo Jackson.”
As Featherstone describes it, Jackson, like many junior college football players, slipped through the cracks. Sure, Jackson managed to garner a number of state honors, but he didn’t get much of a chance to show off his arm in high school, Featherstone said. Jackson was relegated as the hander-offer in a run-heavy Wing-T system at Lompoc High School in California.
That didn’t bother Featherstone, though. He noticed right away that Jackson had a knack for putting the ball right where it needed to be. He finished fifth among 72 California junior college teams’ quarterbacks in pass efficiency his first year on the job. Last year, he finished first, completing 134 of his 223 passes for 2,235 yards, 23 touchdowns and just four interceptions.
Oh yeah, he led the team to a state title in that first year and another conference championship last season.
But is he cut out to lead a Division I offense?
“Boo doesn’t like sitting around,” Featherstone said. “He doesn’t like not playing. He’ll do everything in his power to win that job.”
Once I informed him that quarterback controversies in Athens are more common than bricks, Featherstone laughed.
“Well,” he said. “You’re in for another one.”
Yesterday, coach Frank Solich wasted little time confirming that.
“We do not, in this point in time, have an established quarterback,” Solich said. “We do not have a player that has stepped forward and just taken over the position.”
Last spring, when Theo Scott arrived with a similar “hot shot California JUCO stud quarterback” buzz, Ohio’s quarterback situation was only a tad murky. But a spirited competition between Josh and Scott Febus wasn’t enough to dethrone an experienced Brad Bower going into the fall.
This year no one, not even Scott, has an edge.
“We don’t have anyone with a great deal of experience,” Solich said. “We’re talking about guys that have to gather experience really, really quickly and show what they can do very, very quickly.”
Notice the stressing of “quickly.” Solich means it. Whoever wins the battle, Solich said, will be what the team bases its offensive schemes around going into fall camp.
Bottom line: Solich doesn’t want the flip-flopping that occurred between Bower and Scott last season.
Which makes Jackson just as viable a candidate as any.
“We’re going to give him an opportunity to show what he can do,” Solich said. “We’re excited about him coming in.”
— Andrew Gribble is a senior journalism major and The Post’s sports editor. Send him an e-mail at ag358604@ohiou.edu.
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