The rumblings out of College Station is that Jimbo Fisher has made a call to the bullpen. Haynes King was pulled from the starting rotation and it kind of makes sense to be honest. When you lose to the Appalachian State Mountaineers at home while you were ranked the sixth best team in the country, something had to give. Max Johnson named starter is what the headline reads. Jimbo told Haynes King to give me the ball and slapped him on the ass as he exited towards the showers.

Max Johnson is the 6-5 nephew of former Miami Hurricanes head coach Mark Richt. Johnson’s dad threw a couple touchdowns in the NFL now that we think about it. Max threw for 2815, 27 touchdowns against only six interceptions last year for the LSU Tigers. That stat line alone makes you question Coach Fisher’s decision to march out King. But who knows, Jimbo hasn’t been the same since Jameis Winston was last seen squinting over at him.

Johnson has some ability. He has a rather quick release and can scan the field well. I personally think he is more mobile than people want to give him credit for. He isn’t as fast or elusive as King, but that didn’t matter much enroute to the Aggies sluggish start the first two weeks.

Miami Hurricane fans have a phobia, admit it because we do. Stop me if you have heard this line before. “We make every quarterback making their first start look like a Heisman.”  There is some truth here mixed in with a wildly conjured up figment of the fan base’s imagination. I have a past and recent example though to show how the Hurricanes have in fact made quarterbacks making their first start look like all stars.

Who can forget 2011? The Miami Hurricanes under the banner flag of Alfonse Golden and his pal Mark D’Onofrio would face off vs. the Maryland Terrapins. That was the game where the turtles wore arguably the worst uniform in the history of College sports. It looked like a designer vomited the Maryland state flag on a piece of paper and said, “Here it is.”

Danny O’Brian made his first start of the season and easily set the college football world on fire. I vividly remember thinking, “Man this kid is damn good. He is playing like a Heisman.” O’Brian torched the Hurricanes for 348 yards that night. Funny thing is, the Terrapin QB would never throw over 300 yards the remainder of the season and ended up throwing more interceptions than touchdowns.

Then go back one week prior. The Southern Miss Golden Eagles were going to unleash their super run offense. The eagles of gold only attempted 13 pass attempts when they faced off vs. Liberty. Enter first time starter Zach Wilcke and Southern Miss did the unthinkable. They came out actually passing the football. It took everyone by surprise including the Miami Hurricane coaching staff.

I mean Wilcke’s stat line wasn’t world beating. He ended the day 16-27 with one touchdown but when that one touchdown surgically sailed over Malik Curtis‘s head, the moans and echoes of “here we go again” were plentiful. The Miami Hurricanes would go on to win the contest 30-7 and Southern Miss never managed another touchdown after the above mentioned.

Any time Max Johnson does anything remotely successful on the field Saturday the Miami Hurricane’s fans are going to react, better yet overreact. Yes, he is a Heisman, look at that five yard out for the completion. The years of the Hurricanes defense propping up opposing quarterbacks on their shoulders instead of leveling them with their shoulder pads are plentiful.

The reality of it all is that the Miami Hurricanes will have more stability at quarterback when they face off this Saturday at College Station. The absolute certainty is that Tyler Van Dyke is the quarterback who is capable of Heisman moments. The uncertainty is whether or not Max Johnson is actually even any good considering he couldn’t beat out King this offseason. But that won’t stop us Hurricanes fans from switching their roles come Saturday.