Around FCS: The Perils of Perrilloux

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05/15/2008 - Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - EX-LSU quarterback Ryan Perrilloux is in search of team. And Jacksonville State is in need of a quarterback.

So who cares about the suspensions, legal issues and failed drug tests in this mercurial athlete's past? Just grab your shotgun and proceed to a marriage of convenience.

Jacksonville State offered the former national high school player of the year a scholarship during his visit to the Alabama campus on Tuesday, and Perrilloux announced he had accepted that offer on Wednesday.

The Gamecocks were one of a multitude of FCS programs that lined up to court the talented but troubled player.

LSU coach Les Miles has already granted Perrilloux, who has two years of eligibility left, and Jacksonville State the release needed to complete the transaction.

JSU dismissed talented senior starter Cedric Johnson a couple of months back for "violating team rules," but now coach Jack Crowe and his staff are willing to jump from the frying pan and into the fire with Perrilloux.

When Johnson was kicked off of the team, the Gamecocks were left without a scholarship player at quarterback, so the presence of Perrilloux stands to greatly improve JSU's chances of winning an Ohio Valley Conference title, or reaching the NCAA playoffs.

If Perrilloux doesn't ruin his new team's chemistry first.

Even if Crowe had reconsidered the scholarship offer, there were as many as 25 FCS teams waiting in line for a chance to woo the signal-caller.

Perrilloux had originally planned a trip to Mississippi next week to visit Jackson State, another school in desperate straits at quarterback. He had already taken a trip to Alabama A&M, and it seems that just about all of the SWAC is lining up to wine and dine a player who once boasted he would be the first player to win FOUR Heisman Trophies.

Someone should have told him that Ohio State running back Archie Griffin was the only player to win that prestigious award more than once. Now Perrilloux will cast his eyes on the Walter Payton Award, an honor that no one has won more than once.

Sam Houston State raised eyebrows a couple of years back when it brought in quarterback Rhett Bomar, the centerpiece of an extra benefits scandal at Oklahoma, along with offensive lineman J.D. Quinn (now at Montana). But Bomar's mistakes paled in comparison to Perrilloux's background, and Bomar has shown himself to be genuinely contrite and regretful for his past failings.

I'm all for giving a youngster a fresh start and a second chance, but at what point do you throw away good sense and proceed with a win-at-all-costs attitude?

It is easy to find this type of attitude every day at the FBS level. But when you start to see FCS teams lowering their standards, someone needs to stop and take notice.

Perrilloux is a kid that was expected to star for the defending BCS champion, but got into so much trouble that those Bayou Tigers felt it was best to separate themselves from him. If a team at LSU's level gets rid of a kid like this, what does that say about the baggage he will bring to another program?

I remember a few years back when Marshall, never the most integrous of programs, brought in a troubled athlete who even Notre Dame and Florida State didn't want. Randy Moss spurred the Thundering Herd to the 1996 I-AA national championship, but not without his share of off-field incidents.

No one is expecting Perrilloux to lead Jacksonville State or some other FCS squad to those kind of heights, but the risk of damaging his new team is definitely something to worry about.

Still, there are obviously coaches throughout the subdivision that will roll those loaded dice and pray they don't come up snake eyes. Such is the temptation of winning.

THE NUMBERS GAME

Die-hard FCS fans can tell you that San Diego quarterback Josh Johnson threw 43 touchdown passes with just one interception. They can tell you that Georgia Southern has a record six championship flags hanging in Paulson Stadium, and that Alcorn State's Steve McNair passed for 14,496 yards.

But I learned some other stats recently that caused me to step up and take notice. The chances of someone finding a perfect match for a blood marrow donor are just one in 80,000. Only about 250 matches are made in a given year.

A couple of weeks back, I participated in the blood marrow donor program at Villanova University. It was as simple as filling out a few forms and having a swab of my cheek taken.

Over the past 16 years, Villanova football coach Andy Talley has hosted bone marrow testing drives, resulting in several thousand potential donors being tested and entered into the national bone marrow registry.

This year, Talley expanded his efforts by partnering with the Fox Chase Bone Marrow Transplant program. Calling their partnership the First and Goal Program, Talley and Fox Chase were able to talk eight other football programs into holding testing during their spring football games.

Other schools to get involved included Penn, Harvard, Massachusetts, Northeastern, New Hampshire, Maine and Wagner from the FCS ranks and one FBS program - Temple. Talley is hopeful that more schools, particularly ones from other regions of the country, will get involved in this simple but important program in the future.

In 2006, Villanova kicker Joe Marcoux learned he was a perfect match for a cancer victim. That December, Marcoux donated some of his blood marrow to help extend the life of the woman.

Hopefully, there will be plenty more stories like this, as Talley continues his work in promoting this much-needed program.