April 9, 2010
By Turner Walston
The fifth-year senior sits atop the depth chart at quarterback for the Blue team. The redshirt freshman fills the role on the White team. One is an incumbent three-year starter. The other, an unknown quantity.
Saturday's spring game will be fans' chance to see T.J. Yates and Bryn Renner face off on opposite sidelines. Yates ranks second on the school's career passing yards, attempts and completions standings. Renner came in as the No. 3 quarterback in the country according to SuperPrep, and threw for nearly 6,000 yards and 67 touchdowns in two years at West Springfield (Va.) High School.
Saturday's match-up will be one for the ages. Well, maybe.
Renner and Yates must be at each other's throats. Well, maybe not.
Both quarterbacks went before the media on Wednesday. Renner hasn't thrown a single pass in a Tar Heel uniform, but he handled reporters' questions like a veteran.
"I think I'm really just trying to take it one day at a time," he said. "Me and T.J. have a great relationship, and I think whoever is the starter is going to do a great job for this team to win."
Yates has been through this before. Remember, as a redshirt freshman three seasons ago, he emerged as the starter during Butch Davis's first training camp in Chapel Hill. Carolina has compiled a 20-18 record in three seasons (15-16 in Yates' starts). In the five seasons prior to Davis's arrival, the team went 19-40. Still, a taste of success brings rising expectations, and some fans called for the backup. Yates even received a letter in a child's handwriting. "He was bleeping out all of the bad words with stars and stuff," Yates said, smiling. "That kind of stuff, you've just got to laugh at."
Renner understands the scrutiny a quarterback goes through. "Even in high school, if the starter's struggling, then the backup guy is going to be the one that the fans want to see go in," he said. But Renner redshirted in 2009. Although he was dressed and on the sideline, rising sophomore Braden Hanson made three appearances in relief of Yates.
"I think that really helped me a lot," Renner said of his redshirt year, "learning from T.J., learning more of the offense and getting down more of the West Coast principles."
Yates said Renner has had a good spring camp, and is learning to harness his energy. "He's definitely got a lot of stuff to learn as far as the offense goes, but I can see myself in his shoes, the same kind of thing back when I was a freshman," Yates said.
The veteran also understands he won't be at Carolina forever, and it's in the team's best interest to groom his successor. "I know Bryn's going to push me in every way that he can, because he's a great competitor," Yates said. "If he's going to be here to just take second place, he shouldn't be here. He's here to push me and try to get the starting spot."
Both of the quarterbacks say they don't talk with each other about any so-called `controversy.' Rather, they understand that the player that gives Carolina the best chance to win will start against LSU in early September.
In the meantime, Saturday will give fans a chance to see Renner and Yates operate in a live-game situation. One may outperform the other on Saturday, but a single practice won't make a determination. Both are approaching the game the same way.
"It's another scrimmage, and the more experience I can get, the better I'll be as a player," Renner said.
"Be efficient, limit mistakes and just play clean football," said Yates.
As rivalries go, this one's pretty friendly. The two pal around off the field, and Yates joked that they would grade the film of Renner's first press conference. "I bet you I was the same way when I first did it," Yates said. "Maybe I'll give him a lesson or two before his next interview."
It's highly likely that one day Bryn Renner will take the field as Carolina's starting quarterback. Until then, he has a capable mentor - on and off the field.
Turner Walston is the managing editor of Tar Heel Monthly.
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