Canes QB quandary flusters Harris' dad

If Randy Shannon picks freshman Stephen Morris as his starting quarterback Saturday against South Florida he can expect a call from Jacory Harris' father.

Rodney Harris said Wednesday night he has been under the idea his son would retain his starting job once he was cleared to return from a concussion. But what has been reported during the past couple of days, Harris said, has troubled him.

"I didn't think you could lose your job by being hurt," Harris said. "Randy has been saying that since Jacory got hurt. Now, how are you going to open it up for competition late in the year? If they feel that kid is a better quarterback, then they need to tell Jacory that. They haven't told him for whatever reasons.

"Either way, that still wouldn't be fair. Jacory wasn't allowed to run the offense they're running now. He threw the ball 60 times a game. Put him in a position to succeed, let him run that offense."

Shannon said this week Harris would start if he did "everything he's supposed to in practice.'' But Wednesday, Morris took the bulk of the snaps with the first team again. Afterward, Shannon said he still had not made up his mind on a starter and that Morris and Harris were doing "a good job in practice."

"[Jacory's] better, but he's still the same," Shannon said Wednesday. "I'm not going to sit up here and say `this guy is doing this, this guy is doing that.' The thing we have to do is make sure whoever is practicing the best, gets the best opportunity."

Local NBC sports anchor Adam Kuperstein reported Tuesday morning that Harris had already been told Monday he would remain the backup the rest of the season. Rodney Harris said he had not spoken to his son or Shannon since shortly after the Virginia Tech loss.  But Harris he said if Morris was taking the snaps with the first team on Tuesday and Wednesday, then it is a sure-fire sign he'll start Saturday against USF.

"I'm pretty sure they tell them what's going to happen on Sunday -- who is starting and all that," Harris said. "My thing is how do you lose your job when you are hurt giving your all for that team? When you come to practice and aren't doing what is supposed to be done, that's something different. But knowing Jacory, he'd go out there and put the same effort every time. What's changed?

"You made a kid captain last week and didn't play him. This week, you're not going to give him a shot? What's the deal? When I talked to Jacory Saturday after the game he was not taking that kind of stuff well. He's a competitor, he wants to be in there to play. How do you take a kid like that and just sit him down without a shot? I can't understand that. I won't understand that. Unless Stephen plays the first half and Jacory plays the second. Then what are we doing going back to the Robert Marve situation?

"I talked to Coach Shannon after the Virginia Tech game, told him they had some tough breaks but the game plan was good. That they should keep their head up. But I haven't spoken to him in reference to [Jacory playing]. I just assume when I read in the paper when he says this is my guy and who I'm going with when he comes off his injury -- he said that for three weeks -- that's what I'm going by. That's what everybody else is going by.

"If the kid don't play Saturday, then I'll have to schedule some sort of meeting with Shannon to see what's wrong with Jacory. The kid wants to help this football team. The kid is No. 2 or 3 on every list passing list at that school. How could you do that to the kid?"

> Shannon said defensive end Marcus Robinson, hurt in the Virginia Tech loss, wouldn't play this week. He said special teams standout Cory Nelms had about "a 25 percent chance" of playing against USF. He said freshman linebacker Kelvin Cain has been sick for over a week.