GW’s quarterback situation settled

The original plan was for George Washington to have last year’s starting quarterback, Tim Moore, and fellow junior Kevin Shuler compete in a timeshare behind center this season, with the Eagles rotating the QBs to best take advantage of each player’s strengths.

With GW jumping out to a 2-0 record for the first time in three years, that scenario is out the window.

Shuler is the man.

“I’d say that’s pretty safe to say,” GW coach Dan Newell said. “But Tim is going to play a few series here and there.”

Shuler has completed 6 of 10 passes for 138 yards and a touchdown this season.

And while Moore has yet to throw a pass, he sure has made his presence felt.

Moore, lining up as a tight end, caught the winning touchdown pass, a 38-yard strike, in GW’s 14-7 victory at Person County (N.C.) on Friday. He’s also snagged three interceptions while playing in the secondary this season, including a pick that set up that game-winning drive against the Rockets.

“Oh yeah, I’m real cool with it,” Moore said about no longer starting at quarterback. “As long as we’re winning and keep pushing, that’s all we’ve got to do. I’m ready to do what the team’s got to do to win.”

Moore is an athlete, pure and simple. He’s bigger than Shuler and better suited to run the option, which factored in well with GW’s powerful and multifaceted running attack last season. Moore teamed with Virginia Tech running back David Wilson and Hargrave Military back Tahron Goods to lead GW to the Northwest Region championship game without throwing a single touchdown pass in the regular season.

With Wilson and Goods graduated, the Eagles still primarily rely on the ground game, which features DeVaughn Benion and Terrance Jackson, but the offense has evolved to take advantage of opponents through the air, as well.

“I thought (the quarterback position) was going to be shared more at the beginning, but Coach told me that Tim would be playing tight end,” Shuler said, adding that the offense is stronger with the two of them on the field at the same time and that while they both competed for the starting job, their relationship at this point is great. “We’re like brothers, man. He helps me out with stuff that I don’t know and I help him out with stuff that he don’t know. I feel more comfortable with him out there.”

Shuler is more of a pure drop-back passer than Moore, but has still shown his mobility in the two games this season, rushing 12 times for 59 yards – a healthy average of nearly five yards per carry. He’s augmented the running game, when called for, with crisp, accurate passes. That ability proved the difference against Person County, which was stacking the box in a fairly effective attempt to stifle GW’s ground game.

“We made a couple of critical plays in the passing game that we hadn’t seen in a couple of years, and that’s what Kevin does well,” Newell said. “Kevin is not the prototypical option-style quarterback and that’s not what we’re going to do as much as we’d like to, but what we can do is run the play action pass. If they’re going to put that many people in the box, you’ve got to make them pay. … As long as we can protect him I feel pretty good about throwing the ball.”