Photo: SU QB Bryant Lee By JOSEPH SCHIEFELBEIN, Advocate sportswriter
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — Call it football sense. Southern University wide receiver Gerard Landry knew, deep down, as he saw quarterback Bryant Lee taking off for the south end zone of A.W. Mumford Stadium on a quarterback draw.
The game with Texas Southern was tied late into the third quarter. Lee was a redshirt freshman filling in for J.C. Lewis, who injured his throwing shoulder early in the second quarter. And the Jaguars were in a three-game losing spiral, having just changed offensive coordinators.
Right there, that skinny kid bolted, following his tackle Myles Williams by design, and raced free, 28 yards, for the go-ahead touchdown as SU pulled away.
“The moment that got me was that Texas Southern game, when they put him in and he housed that thing right here in the south end zone and gave thanks to God,” Landry said. “I always remember that play.”
Lee begins this season as Southern’s starting quarterback with the Jaguars, who have had two straight losing seasons, playing Florida A&M at 2 p.m. today in the MEAC/SWAC Challenge in Legion Field.
So what does Southern have in Lee? A lot of who Lee is was on display in that play: rising to the occasion, flashing speed and remembering his faith.
“He showed me he was grateful,” Landry said. “He waited his turn. He waited all this time, and when he got his opportunity to shine, he went out there and shined and he gave thanks to the man above.”
His momma, Southern grad Patricia Lee, was proud.
“He’s a Christian kid, for sure,” Patricia Lee said. “That’s what I taught him, the Christian life. He’s never been a cocky player. He’s always been a team player.”
Lee, starting with that game, became known as a playmaker. He held off a challenge from fast-rising fellow sophomore Warren Matthews in preseason camp pretty much on his reputation of being what coaches call a “gamer.”
Lee, from Boutte, likes the rep. He went 27-1 as a starter at Hahnville, threw a record-tying four touchdowns in beating powerhouse Evangel Christian Academy of Shreveport in the 2003 Class 5A state title game and twice beat LSU’s highly touted Ryan Perilloux of East St. John in LaPlace.
“It means a lot to me,” Lee said. “I get a lot of confidence from the team when they say I’m a gamer. They know, when the lights are on, I’ll play to the best of my ability.”
Patricia Lee said she thought her son would be a baseball player and always remembers him uncorking a long throw from the outfield. His dad, Michael Lee, however, told Hahnville coaches about Bryant’s arm, and remembered Bryant once replacing cousin LaRon Landry and throwing a touchdown pass on the next play.
“That’s when I knew, once he got his opportunity, he was going to take advantage,” Michael Lee said, echoing how things have gone down at SU.
The last time Southern turned to a redshirt sophomore as its No. 1 quarterback wasn’t that long ago. Lewis, now a fifth-year senior, took over in 2005, following two SWAC offensive players of the year (quarterbacks Quincy Richard, in 2003, and Thomas Ricks, in ’04). Lewis, now in graduate school and third on the current depth chart, started the last two seasons and ascended to fifth on the school’s all-time passing chart.
While Lewis still throws a great ball, the one mark against him is his lack of mobility. He was sacked 28 times in nine games in 2005 and was knocked out of games with concussions last season.
A more mobile quarterback is a necessity this season.
For one, the offense has been revamped under Mark Orlando, who revised his familiar role as offensive coordinator starting with that Texas Southern game (with Lee, then, becoming the team’s main quarterback pretty much at the same time). The offense is designed for guys with skills like those of Lee and Matthews.
More pressing, though, is SU, because of academic attrition, has piece-mealed its offensive line. The Jaguars are young and thin, highlighted by the drastic camp move of making a tight end, Trent Thomas, into the left tackle.
“You have to be patient, but they have confidence in me and I have confidence in them,” Lee said of his line.
Then, tellingly, he didn’t shy away from saying he wouldn’t be afraid to get on the guys up front, either.
“In the game it’s high intensity, so I’ll probably get on them,” Lee said.
That’s the take-charge coaches want to see. That’s what they liked seeing in two scrimmages after tapping Lee as the winner in the quarterback duel. He was sharp and in control.
Lee enters this season with more experience than Lewis in 2005. He threw for 571 yards, three touchdowns and four interceptions, completing 58.6 percent of his passes last season. He also is the team’s top returning rusher, with 67 carries for 302 yards and five TDs.
Starting with the concussion to Lewis and continuing with the ineffectiveness of C.J. Byrd, Lee rose from third on the depth chart at this point a year ago. But even with not getting the reps, Lee would throw extra after practice.
“He had a good offseason, got bigger and stronger,” SU coach Pete Richardson said.
Though Landry gave in that Lee can play a bit of a jokester in the locker room, that’s not how things go down between the sidelines.
“Bryant Lee has really been stepping up,” Landry said. “He’s going to step up and get the job done. He knows when to clown and when to work. &hellip He’ll work hard. All you have to do (during the summer) is say, ‘Let’s go throw, Lee,’ and he’s ready to go.”
Almost ready.
“I think everybody’s a little nervous,” Lee said. “After that first hit, I’ll be ready.”
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