Gregory cherishes chance to be Wildcats’ starting quarterback

A sixth-year student working on his master’s degree, quarterback Grant Gregory finally got the opportunity he had been working and hoping for his whole life.

After beginning the 2009 season as a backup yet again, Gregory gradually earned the starting spot. He started for the first time against Iowa State, and last week at Oklahoma he had his most consistent game since then, going 19-30 for 174 yards.

“It’s awesome going into the game knowing you’re going to have an opportunity to help the team,” Gregory said. “For the last four years being a backup and hoping to get to play because hopefully you’re beating somebody good, it’s a lot different to go in the week of practice knowing you’re going to get a chance to help the team.”

While Gregory said he knows if he does not play well he will not play, it gives him confidence knowing the team is getting used to him playing. He said now they know a little bit more about him and there is a little bit more continuity in the offense. Gregory said continuity with the receivers is huge and difficult to develop in non-game situations.

“You can throw all summer, which we did, but the things that happen with the defense on the field make a huge difference, and being able to throw to receivers on the field and learn what they do helps a lot,” Gregory said.

With the game against rival KU this weekend, Gregory said he has never experienced anything quite like it.

“At South Florida we had conference rivalries, but our [University of Central Florida] rivalry wasn’t like this because we were Big East, and UCF was Conference USA,” Gregory said. “This is an inter-conference rivalry, so I haven’t had anything like this.”

He said he expects them to play as hard as any team they’re going to play.

“They’ll be ready to get out there and be ready to hit us,” Gregory said.

Although Gregory has been improving, the passing game in general has struggled this season. Even in the 20-6 win over Colorado, Gregory completed 9 of 18 passes for only 80 yards. In the Texas A&M game, in which the Wildcats scored 62 points, he threw for a normally respectable 10-13 for 147 yards. However, one might think 62 points would be a result of more than 147 yards through the air. Backup quarterback Carson Coffman had slightly higher statistics in the early part of the season, but the numbers are not significantly different.