ODJ: Watch Future QB Battle Now

Even though starting quarterback Adam DiMichele is limited by last year's broken leg, there's nothing at stake in the spring practice battle between Vaughn Charlton and redshirt freshman Chester Stewart ... at least not this year.

Let me take you on a journey ... into the future. How far into the future? Exactly one year.

Headlines celebrate that gasoline has finally dipped back under $5.00 a gallon. The Temple men’s basketball team celebrates its second consecutive Atlantic 10 championship. And Al Golden heads into his first spring practice as the head coach at Penn State. (Just kidding.)

Meanwhile, inside the Cosby practice bubble, Vaughn Charlton and Chester Stewart are locked in a leather pants-tight competition to succeed Adam DiMichele as the Owls’ starting quarterback.

All kidding aside, the Charlton-Stewart battle is exactly what everybody will be focusing on next spring, provided there are no huge surprises or oddball twists over the next 12 months.

But instead of settling for a fictional account, you can get a glimpse of the future at this year’s Cherry and White Game, when Charlton and Stewart will lead the respective teams as head cheerleader DiMichele watches from the sidelines.

The only difference between spring practice this year and spring practice next year is that nothing is really at stake between Charlton and Stewart. Because there’s really no way that DiMichele won’t be Temple’s starting quarterback in the fall, unless his fast-healing broken leg suddenly stops healing.

For the Owls and DiMichele, there’s a new motto: “In Rod We Trust.”

And if by some terrible misfortune DiMichele can’t go, then Charlton will be the guy taking snaps for the Cherry and White. Stewart can’t do anything this spring to change that fact.

Over the past two seasons, particularly when he took over as the Owls’ starting quarterback after DiMichele was injured last year, Charlton has proven that he can protect a lead (see Miami-Ohio), he’s proven that he can handle the big stage (see Penn State and Clemson), and he’s proven that he can help steady the ship when things aren’t going well (see Kent State).

The one thing Charlton hasn’t proven is that he can put the team on his back and win a game with his arm like DiMichele did at Akron last season. That’s why DiMichele is the starter, regardless of what it says on the current depth chart.

Then there’s Stewart, who hasn’t proven a thing.

That’s why he’s the one to watch in the Cherry and White Game.

Because, depending on the circumstances, Stewart could be DiMichele’s top backup this fall. Wait a minute, didn’t I just say there’s nothing that Stewart can do this spring to supplant Charlton as the No. 2 signal caller?

Yes.

But there’s always the possibility that Charlton, a true junior, will take a redshirt this season.

Looking into the future, the Owls won’t have a lot of options in 2009 and 2010, especially if Charlton plays this fall. Stewart is the only quarterback they’ve recruited in the past two years. So it would really help if he could provide the Owls some help sooner rather than later.

According to Golden, Stewart can “make all the throws” just like DiMichele and Charlton. Furthermore, with size like Charlton, Stewart can do it from the pocket, and with mobility like DiMichele, he can do it from the perimeter.

The question is whether Stewart can do it when it counts.