50ish Names in 50 Days: Coty Blanchard and Marques Ivory
By Kyle Kensing
Quarterback is a job that much like President of the United States, is suited to one man. Sure, like the POTUS gets input from Cabinet members and various other sources a quarterback has his coaches and teammates in his ear. But ultimately, it’s a lone wolf position.
Not at Jacksonville State.
The Gamecocks achieved significant milestones in 2010: knocking off an SEC opponent, winning the Ohio Valley Conference, qualifying for the postseason. And legendary head coach Jack Crowe’s roster is loaded for another postseason run with two equally capable quarterbacks behind center.
Sophomore Coty Blanchard and senior Marques Ivory run the Gamecock offense with more fluidity than some offenses employing a single snap-taker. The duo work together like Abbott & Costello, like Laurel & Hardy, like Animal & Hawk. And at 32.17 points per game, their offense was among the nation’s highest 12 in output. What a rush!
Blanchard is a particularly interesting athlete because not only did see significant playing time his freshman season supporting Ivory at quarterback, but he was also the Gamecocks’ punter. Talk about having to always be ready for the fake. Blanchard booted for a 39.5-yard average, with six punts of more than 50 yards and 20 inside the 20-yard line. At quarterback he was good for 296 yards passing on 41 attempts with eight touchdowns, and tacked on nearly 300 yards rushing.
In addition, he’s a standout on the baseball team boasting a .352 batting average with 25 RBI. Blanchard could very well become Freshman of the Year in OVC baseball, just as he was in football. The guy is a regular Bo Jackson.
With so much to buzz about Blanchard, Ivory could become an afterthought. That dates all the way back to Blanchard’s debut and the highlight of Jax State’s 2010, a 49-48 overtime defeat of Ole Miss. Blanchard after all made the game-winning pass to Calvin Middleton on Crowe’s gutsy two-point conversion call. But without Ivory leading the Gamecocks to the initial touchdown, there’s no two-pointer.
Ivory passed for a shade below 2300 yards and 18 touchdowns. The negative against him Ivory isn’t so much a negative as the bar set before him. He threw nine interceptions in 2010, a stark contrast from Perrilloux. In 2009, Perrilloux was the nation’s leader in passing efficiency for much of the season and had a ridiculous 23 touchdowns to just two interceptions. Comparatively just about anything is going to be a drop-off, but improving upon his 2:1 ratio will be a point of emphasis for Ivory. At 6-foot-1 and 240 pounds, he certainly has the strength behind his arm to do very big things.