In the eyes of the college football world both LSU and Florida both possess the talent to make a run at the SEC Title for the 2006 season. But for coaches Les Miles and Urban Meyer, there is one question that I am sure they are getting sick of answering; who will be the starting QB for the upcoming season?

That question is a little easier for Meyer to answer; right now it is Chris Leak. This will be Leak’s second year as the Gators full time starter, but his struggles with the spread-option offense last season have raised the question if incoming freshman QB Tim Tebow should get the starting nod.

After watching a few Gators games last year I did notice that Leak did not look all that comfortable running the spread option but fans have to remember that he went from a Spurrier style air it out attack to almost the complete opposite with the option attack. Let the guy learn the offense a little. He had a career year as far as completion percentage and threw the least interceptions in his career. Andre Caldwell, Dallas Baker and Jemalle Cornelius will return to full strength this year and it will only help Leak’s passing numbers.

Yes, Tebow seems to fit the mold for this offense but he is still a true freshman. Tebow will get his reps this season but it is up to the coaches to mold the offensive game plan around the talent they control. For the Gators to be successful this year Leak needs to be relaxed and not worried about making a mistake that could cause him to be pulled.

Les Miles has a little tougher decision to make. Does he go with Junior JaMarcus Russell who started most of last year, does he turn to Junior Matt Flynn who played in the Peach Bowl romp against Miami, or does he go with 2004’s #1 QB recruit Ryan Perrilloux? This will make for good competition come fall camp as each will be pushing for the starting job but again Miles needs to make a decision.

Right now he is saying that Russell is his starting QB but nothing is etched in stone right now. That is all good if he is playing coy with the media, but he should be upfront with the team. I have not seen enough of Flynn to really have an opinon on the matter, but he did have a great Peach Bowl. I see nothing wrong with the competition going on at these two schools but when the season starts a clear-cut starter needs to be named. There is enough pressure on the quarterbacks during the game; they don’t need the added worry of making one mistake and getting pulled.