Travis Johnson - QB

[HarrisburgFlame]

Anybody got an update on Travis? Anyone have any updates on spring practice so far other than the thin numbers?

Thanks!

[V88]

Travis is actually playing baseball this spring. He's an outfielder. What that means as far as his future at QB, I'm not sure, but I would think Brock Farrell will be the leading candidate heading into the fall.

[HarrisburgFlame]

Thanks. I forgot Travis was playing baseball. That will hurt him going into the fall more than likely. I new he came highly recruited and I was curious if anyone had insight on his development or thoughts the coaching staff has on him.

Thanks!

[Stevev]

I haven't seen him lately in the baseball boxscores so he is obviously participating in the football practices. I would think that he would be a serious candidate for the starting job next fall.

[PAmedic]

from the LU website:

thru Mar 15 (in 6 games) he is batting .200 (3/15, 3 runs cored) w/ 1 homer and 5 RBIs. 3 walks, 2 s/o, slugging % of .400 and O/B % of .333.

fielding, he has 11 P/O's and no errors.

*couldn't get the link to work- on the baseball site look up "2005 stats"*

[HarrisburgFlame]

Is he the future QB? Just curious if the staff feels like he'll be the man year after next. Maybe even before the end of this year.

[PAmedic]

who else is REALISTICALLY ahead of him on the depth chart among McKay/Farrel/Painter?

Also, H'burg- do you know anything about this kid-

Brock Smith – 6-3, 240, QB, Hershey HS, Hershey, Pa.
Four-year letterwinner … second-team all-conference as a punter during his sophomore season … second-team all-conference as a quarterback and first-team special teams as a junior … named the team’s MVP as a senior and was named to the East/West Mid Penn All-Star game roster, where he was the East MVP … Associated Press first-team defensive back as a senior … nominated for the Big 33 team and the Mid Penn Keystone Division Coaches team.

[V88]

H,burg may have more info. From the signing day press conference Coach Karcher indicated Smith may have been overlooked by some teams and he thinks he has the potential to develop into a good QB. As far as the others...Painter is off the radar and Farrell is the most likely starter because of the experience he gained last season.

[HarrisburgFlame]

I saw Smith play in one game this year. Great big kid and I understand that he's a pretty good baseball player too. He's athletic even though the game I saw his arm seemed to be a little suspect.

I think another think that hampered Brock is that Hershey High wasn't very good this year.

I understand he's a great kid and I like his size and athletic ability.

[PAmedic]

that's what jumped out at me too, good size for a QB- though thats more common these days (Ben R: Steelers)

I know NOTHING about Hershey, don't even recall them being in the PIAA playoffs over the last couple years.

[HarrisburgFlame]

Hershey High football has been way down lately. Smith may have put up better numbers and been more highly sought after had he been on a better team.

[HoldMyOwn]

I've attended ALL of the baseball games and while you said he has NO errors I believe you, but he missed 2 fly balls in one game...not running yet camped under them....you wonder why he didnt get an error...because he didnt even put leather on the ball...he misjudged them by about 20 feet...not even close (which makes me wonder if his dads the score keeper ;D) as far as what he's going to do next year i've heard mixed reports from coach's....1 being he WILL NOT get a full ride for baseball not even a good % therefore baseball is giving him the green light for football although football is not all that interested in him being a QB, this is only what I hear within the program begin dissecting ;-)

[eddantes]

In baseball, an outfielder only gets an error for dropping the ball. If it's a lazy fly and the OFer camps under it and then dives out of the way but never touches the ball, it's ruled a hit.

I guess we just put a giant "bust" on this guy, just like Gus, or Painter, or J.R. Typical.

[HoldMyOwn]

right...that's what i was trying to say...he never put leather on the ball

[PAmedic]

thanks for the u/d- that's why we like you dudes down there- I could only go by the info on the website stats page: obviously that didn't give us the full picture here.

[jimflamesfan]

Kyle Painter transferred out of LU...

I think he transferred out before the begining of last year.

I hope Karcher sticks with Brock or Travis...they both seemed capable last year...they just didn't get to play.

[Stevev]

I checked the roster for LU football and did not see Travis Johnson's name on it. I did read an article in the News Advance that did state that he did not participate in Spring Drills due to baseball and almost was kicked off of the football team by Karcher but the coach did change his mind and let him stay over the summer to get ready for the season. Maybe him not being at spring drills was the fact his name did not appear on the roster. Anyone out there know of anything different.

[flamesfan710]

Karcher gave him a partial scholarship. He is pretty much having to earn his way onto the team this year

[Stevev]

Well at least he is still considered part of the team and didn't transfere which is what was concerned about. He seems like a very high rated recruit and may be the quarterback of the future.

[LUfbfan3]

I don't think that Travis Johnson was overrated-I think that if anything he's been overlooked by the coaches. If I remember correctly, he had a very impressive Sr. year and really hasn't been given the opportunity to showcase his talent at LU. Last year there were clearly issues at QB-and I feel like it shouldn't have taken 6 games to make some changes! Brock Farrel and Travis should have competed for the starting position in my opinion. I'm not sure if he's coming back or not, but I wouldn't blame him if he didn't.

[PAmedic]

welcome fan3- whatya think of the board?

also, focusing on baseball was most likely a driving factor behind the coaches "overlooking him" if, in fact- that's what happened. at least it probably didn't help his case. Rare is the standout 2 sport athelete, at least in today's college athletics. SLY back me up here.

[Sly Fox]

Its only rare because of two reasons:

1. Kids are pushed into concentrating on one sport now at an early age through select/AAU ball. So they aren't getting the opportunity to blossom in more than one sport.

2. College coaches really don't want kids playing more than one sport because they're worried they'll get hurt in the "minor" one. Many coaches often bend on this rule in order to convince a kid to come play for them.

I'm looking to forward to how Travis fares this fall. You NEVER get through an entire season with justr one QB. So having several starter-quality guys taking snaps is going to be necessary for us to have a great year. Particularly in light of our complete lack of depth at RB.

[Stevev]

I am a little worried that he might have left. He is still not on the updated roster on the website and his jersey number is taken by one of the incoming freshmen. All of the other players have writeups on them and he is amoung the missing. Could someone please confirm that he is still on the team.

[LUfbfan3]

I think this board is great-I wasn't aware of its existence until the last time I posted! I've been out of town or I would have responded earlier.

Re:Travis-I have heard he transferred, but I'm not sure where and I'm bummed about it. I haven't heard much from anyone behind him-makes me feel like we don't have much going on behind Brock... I'll be surprised to see Travis back.

[PAmedic]

Yeah I think the roster showed us only 2 deep at QB- IS THAT POSSIBLE? 1 injury, and ineffective sub and we'll be bringing a WR in to chuck the rock, GREAT.

by the way, Fan3, feel free to register- all new members get a week's vacation in TX cleaning SLY's pool.