Queen's And Billy McPhee

A quarterback controversy could suddenly be a brewin' in Kingston.

Freshman (Golden) Gaels pivot Billy McPhee came in cold off the bench and played with the poise and confidence of a senior after starter Justin Chapdelaine did a better job throwing the game away than he did throwing passes.

Chapdelaine didn't identify a wide open Devan Sheahan on the first pass play of the game and it was all down hill from there. He threw three interceptions, only one of which could be truly credited to fine defensive play — oh sure, the defender still has to be in the right place at the right time, don't get me wrong. Otherwise, he badly under-threw passes into the waiting and wide open arms of Guelph's Mark Durigon and Jordan Duncan. To his credit, Durigon's other pick of a Chapdelaine pass was a thing of athletic, game-saving ability on the goal line.

Chapdelaine looked nervous; looked confused. He had nothing on the ball; under-threw just about everything. He completed 11 of 23 passes — some of them wobbly — for 103 yards and threw three interceptions.

Sure, Chapdelaine faced pressure from the Gryphons, and from playing within the long lingering shadow of Danny Brannagan. But so did McPhee.

But McPhee looked past that pressure; looked confident — at one point TV broadcasters noted we may have been witness to the second coming of Danny Brannagan. Seriously. Their words, not mine.

Maybe McPhee didn't realize the position he was in. Maybe he had nothing to lose. So he hung loose and threw long. Cameras caught him flashing coaches a wry smile late in the game when he should have looked nervous, concerned or overwhelmed.

McPhee didn't just walk up field or jog to the line between downs, he marched. And his troops dutifully followed. He had zip on the ball; the spiral was tight. And the passes, all 18 of them, we on the money for the most part. Even the ones that missed didn't do so by much. McPhee completed 10 of 18 passes for 119 yards, a touchdown and an interception.

But his receivers failed him. Big time. In big moments.

Although McPhee every-so-slightly overthrew Sheahan and Chris Ioannides late in the game, they were passes fifth-year players are expected to catch; have to catch. They got their hands on both deep balls thrown their way late in the fourth but neither could reel them in.

Guelph's all-time leading passer, the now-graduated Justin Dunk, once told me fifth-year receivers Jeff Keegan and David McCoy "made (him) look good" early in his career. The same couldn't be said about Sheahan and Ioannides when it counted most Saturday.

If either had made a clutch catch McPhee would have been credited with rallying the team to a comeback win. And surely he would have solidified himself as next week's starter.

Instead, we're left with the question only head coach Pat Sheahan can answer: Chapdelaine or McPhee; who starts?

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