Mason Talks Freshman Quarterback
The reviews were mostly positive. Many amongst the fanbase of the Vanderbilt Commodores football team are openly excited about what the witnessed on Saturday night from freshman quarterback Ken Seals.
Playing in and starting the very first game of his college career, Seals wasn't perfect, but his play, poise, maturity, and demeanor and the way he handled the entire game was impressive. Following one of his two interceptions, Seals was seen on the sidelines discussing the play with teammates.
The freshman was caught laughing during the conversation, which shows that while a mistake was made, he wasn't dwelling on it and was ready to move forward to the next play when he returned to the field. Laughing in the face of adversity is a positive thing, and Seals seems to have that ability despite his young age.
As for his head coach, Derek Mason had this to say on Tuesday about his quarterback and how Seals graded his performance in his first college game.
"You know what, I think his (Seals) post-game press conference spoke to it," said Mason. "He wants to win, ok. There are no moral victories in this for him, and he knows and accepts that playing in this conference there are a lot of expectations on the position."
"I think as he got back and he had a chance to watch the film, you know, he learned a lot from that first game," continued Mason. " THings about situational ball and what we can do to make sure we can maximize red zone opportunities, and that's a growth process."
"I think it helps having a guy like Kyle Shurmer and Quinshon Odum standing next to you or being able to bounce stuff off of in terms of 'ok, Kyle, how did you handle this' or 'Q, what did you see.' I think those three guys, along with Coach Fitch, have done a terrific job of developing all our quarterbacks, and I think the confidence to grow comes from the idea he wants to compete and win."
Seals will start the second game of his career this Saturday against an LSU secondary torched last week for 638 yards by Mississippi State and quarterback KJ Costello. The Tigers will be looking to bounce back and take advantage of the youth and inexperience of Seals after such a poor showing last week.
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