Wallace suspended, Smock departs (and what that means)
Backup quarterback Deuce Wallace has been suspended for the 2018 football season, and true freshman offensive lineman Wyatt Smock has left the program, Vanderbilt football coach Derek Mason confirmed on Thursday at Vanderbilt's Media Day.
Wallace, a redshirt sophomore who was the only scholarship quarterback on the roster other than Kyle Shurmur this spring, will return to school in January, according to Mason, who broke the news on Thursday.
"Deuce Wallace will not be available for the fall 2018 season," Mason said. "Deuce is serving a suspension... [due to a] violation of Vanderbilt school policy. With that being said, I'm looking forward to getting Deuce back in January."
Wallace, a three-star recruit in the Class of 2016, was 11-for-22 passing with a touchdown in his first collegiate action last season. He was the only quarterback besides Shurmur to take a snap last season.
The Sevierville, Tenn. native had a good spring and was clearly poised to be VU's No. 2 quarterback this fall, despite the addition of New Jersey's Allan Walters, who's also a three-star recruit.
Shurmur, who threw for 2,823 yards and a school-record 26 touchdowns last season, is a fourth-year starter who was in no jeopardy of losing his job, However, Wallace also provided the potential of mobility that Shurmur didn't have, had the Commodores chosen to use him in a particular situation that required his skill set.
But the drop-off from there is potentially scary. Should Shurmur miss any time, the Commodores turn to either a true freshman (Walters) or two other new faces whom Mason mentioned on Thursday.
The more prominent was former Syracuse and Coffeyville (Kan.) quarterback Mo Hasan, an invited walk-on who joined the program this summer Hasan completed 71 of 132 passes for 996 yards at Coffeyville last season, and has a bio in VU's Media Guide, where he's listed as a 6-foot-3, 208-pound redshirt sophomore.
Hasan walked on to Syracuse out of high school for the 2016 season, then left after an expected scholarship didn't materialize, according to Syracuse.com. He played at Florida's Dillard High--the alma mater of former VU player and current assistant Jovan Haye--where he threw for 2,520 yards and 19 touchdowns, and was named All-Broward County in high school.
"It doesn't affect where we are right now," Mason said. "Mo Hassan's been here all summer. ... He's been able to acclimate to where we are. Allan Walters has had a great summer. I look at Allan and say to myself, he's way ahead of where Kyle was, when Kyle came here as a young guy. And then Jack Bowen will be our fourth."
"He's played in a conference that had high competition," Mason said of Hasan later, speaking of Coffeyville. "I feel extremely confident in our backup, where he is, the summer he had."
Bowen was not listed in VU's Media Guide. However, MLive.com reported in April that Bowen had accepted a preferred walk-on spot at VU. Bowen led Grand Rapids Central Catholic to a pair of 4A state titles.
Smock, who signed in February and had been on campus this summer, is heading back to his hometown of Louisville, where he was a star at St. Xavier High School, according to a tweet from 840 WHAS's Tony Vanetti on Thursday. Mason confirmed on Wednesday that Smock is gone.
Smock was rated a three-star offensive lineman in the Class of 2018, and the No. 7 player in Kentucky, according to Rivals. He was unlikely to see playing time this season behind an experienced offensive line that includes 14 scholarship lineman, plus, junior walk-on David Floyd,
"[He's] a young man, finding his way, needing to grow up, we wish him all the best," Mason said on Thursday. "We're in fall camp. Those types of issues happen all across the country. I wish Wyatt well."
The decision appears to have been recent, as Smock was listed in VU's Media Guide. St. Xavier is the same school that produced former VU great, and NFL All-Pro Will Wolford.