By Brett Friedlander
©2015 Bonesville.net
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Ruffin McNeill may or may not have been a Boy Scout, but he is a firm believer in the organization’s motto of “Be Prepared.”

It’s a philosophy that’s going to be severely tested now that starting quarterback Kurt Benkert has been lost for the season because a torn ACL in his right knee.

A strong-armed redshirt sophomore who was officially named the Pirates’ starter only last week, Benkert was part of McNeill’s original preparation plan as the heir apparent to record-setting passer Shane Carden. But his two years of grooming went out the window, at least for now, when his knee buckled while planting to make a cut during Tuesday night’s practice.

Benkert’s injury is clearly a blow to ECU’s hopes this season, especially coming so close to the season opener against Towson at Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium a week from Saturday.

How big a blow depends on the way McNeill and his new offensive coordinator Dave Nichol handle to the situation.

Unlike fans and the media, coaches usually don’t get overly emotional when faced with such unexpected turns of events. They simply turn to Plan B and move on with their preparation.

And McNeill is no exception.

“As coaches we plan for these things, all these injury scenarios at every position,” he said Wednesday, after an MRI on Benkert’s knee confirmed the worst case scenario. “I'm not going to let those plans out right now, but we have one.”

A quick glance at the training camp depth chart would suggest that the next man up is junior college transfer Blake Kemp.

Added to the 2014 recruiting class and redshirted last year as an insurance policy in case something went wrong, Kemp has been taking most of the second-team reps behind Benkert. McNeill’s comment, however, is hardly a vote of confidence.

If Kemp was going to be the man, his coach would have come right out and said so. Instead, McNeill dropped the latest in a series of hints since the end of spring practice that neither he nor Nichol are sold on the Arizona native’s ability to lead the team.

Further indication of that is the decision to bring in walk-on transfer Philip Nelson just before the start of fall camp.

Nelson started for two seasons at Minnesota before transferring to Rutgers and an offense better suited to his passing ability. But his football career was sidetracked after an assault charge led to his departure without having played a game for the Scarlet Knights.

It’s not known whether ECU has filed for an NCAA waiver that would allow Nelson to play for the Pirates this season. Even if he is granted immediate eligibility, it’s doubtful he’d be ready to play right away having not taken a single snap in either of the team’s preseason scrimmages.

It’s a drawback he shares with junior Cody Keith, who despite being fully recovered from the elbow surgery that cost him the entire 2014 season, has been sidelined for most of camp with a foot injury. He has only recently returned to practice.

Because of Keith's lack of preparation time and questions about his post-surgical arm strength, the most logical choice to take the first snap in Benkert’s place is the quarterback that on the surface might seem like the most illogical choice — true freshman John Jacobs.

In a perfect world, it would be best to redshirt the talented three-star prospect from Oklahoma and allow him to understudy Benkert the way Benkert learned from Carden. That was the plan before Tuesday.

Now that circumstances have changed, so must the plan. If Jacobs is as good as advertised – and as McNeill and his staff believe – it makes no sense having him sit around on the sidelines waiting for an opportunity that might not come for another three years.

At 6-foot-2, 220 pounds, he has the physical maturity to handle the job. He also has the credentials, having thrown for 2.356 yards and 22 touchdowns while rushing for 853 yards and 10 more scores as a high school senior last season.

And he’s certainly not lacking for confidence.

“I want to light up the Carolina skies,” Jacobs told Bleacher Report in May 2014, shortly after committing to ECU. His decision to honor that commitment even after former offensive coordinator Lincoln Riley left the program was seen as a major recruiting victory.

So why not throw him out there now and see what he can do?

It’s a no-lose situation.

If Jacobs walks in and lights things up the way true freshman Brad Kaaya did at Miami last season, the Pirates have themselves a potential star that will be the face of their program for the next four seasons. If he falls apart under the pressure at Florida in Week 2 or at some other point during ECU’s difficult early schedule, Kemp and Keith will still be there to help pick up the pieces.

But what about his redshirt, you ask?

Don’t worry. It will still be there if needed.

Jacobs could always use it next season if he doesn’t play well and Benkert returns to health and wins the job again. That would put him right back on the original plan of having him ready to start by his junior year.

If he redshirts now, the job likely won’t be his until he’s a senior, provided he stays around long enough for that to happen.

As former Washington Redskins coach George Allen used to say, the future is now.

Besides, despite all the credit quarterbacks get in ECU’s version of the “Air Raid” attack, Jacobs won’t be asked to go out and win games by himself. All he’ll be asked to do is get the ball into the hands of the proven playmakers he has around him – wide receivers Isaiah Jones, Davon Grayson and Trevon Brown and the most impressive player in camp thus far, running back Chris Hairston.

“Our offense is all about distribution of the football,” McNeill said. “Whoever ends up being the quarterback, that's their job and what we expect from them.”

It was an expectation that was supposed to belong to Benkert.

Now that plan has changed.

Who the responsibility shifts to is a subject McNeill is keeping to himself for the time being. But depending on how big a leap of faith the coach is “prepared” to make, it could very well be a true freshman who knows his way around on offense – even if he hasn’t been on campus long enough to know his way around without a map.