Quarterback Situation
- Thread starter Cyclone07
- Start date
I'm not saying Sam should or shouldn't start, I have no idea, but you can't possibly use that game as a quality indicator. It was 2 seasons ago, against a crappy team, and the kid had all the adrenaline in the world for his first meaningful playing time.
I suppose it does show promise ("potential" may be a better word), but there are A LOT of mediocre quarterbacks who could have gotten those stats on a good day.
He also threw the worst pick 6 in the history of football, and fumbled twice I think. JB did all he could for the team, but it was pretty clear that he had a very limited skill set.
Right, it shows his potential. He had his chance to turn that potential into legitimate production, and he went flat.
Systematic confidence killing from the coaches, injuries, and a banged up O-Line certainly didn't help his cause. But the point still stands.
Not the worst pick 6 in the history of football. The defender was way out of position and Barnett was trying to make the right play. Unfortunately, just before he threw it the defender realized his mistake and was sprinting to get back into position. That meant the defender didn't have to react to the ball but was rather heading for the spot full tilt. It may not have been the perfect pass, but there was some bad luck involved there as well.
I get all the concern about SR. Great against KU. Not so good against WVU and everybody said it was the wind. Poor against Tulsa and everybody said he had the flu. Injured against UNI and ever since. To this day, the only time we've seen SR operate without some extenuating circumstance and with an adequate O-line and running game, he completed 89% of his passes. 89%. 9.3 ypa and 10.4 ypc. One TD every six completions. Those are other wordly stats and that doesn't just happen - the kid has some skills. SJ sure as hell wasn't doing it that day and I don't think the KU team changed after the QB substitution.
Now, if that promise is beaten out by GR or JL - or not, I refuse to believe we won't have a top half of the Big 12 QB.
Now, if that promise is beaten out by GR or JL - or not, I refuse to believe we won't have a top half of the Big 12 QB.
I think it would be wise to take a step back and consider the teams ISU was playing in the games you guys are discussing. I've seen the KU game from two years ago, and both the KU and WV games from last year mentioned. What is in common about those opponents? They're terrible. More importantly their defense was terrible. That plays an enormous role in the outcome of a game, and certainly in the ability of a QB to have a good game. If those are the only games you can mention when a QB has played a great game then that's a problem. Because of the poor defense being played the QB's in those games had more time to throw, and the receivers found it easier to get open. That's what happens when you go up against a bad defense. It's easier to look good.
It would be much more simple to solve this QB controversy if there were one QB who had one or more stand out performances against good competition. Unfortunately that hasn't really happened for a number of reasons, and some of those reasons aren't the QBs fault. The offensive line needs to be able to play better against elite competition. That's the main key to success. If that doesn't happen it doesn't really matter who is playing QB.
It would be much more simple to solve this QB controversy if there were one QB who had one or more stand out performances against good competition. Unfortunately that hasn't really happened for a number of reasons, and some of those reasons aren't the QBs fault. The offensive line needs to be able to play better against elite competition. That's the main key to success. If that doesn't happen it doesn't really matter who is playing QB.
Really? And you know this how? In the OT win over Iowa in 2011, Jantz looked like Superman that day in leading us to victory. And was the Big 12 Offensive Player of the Week.
Sam Richardson had a pretty good game against Texas which should have been a win. Richardson had arguably his best game as a Cyclone, going 16/26 for 261 yards and two touchdowns. He added 77 yards on 16 carries, including a 21-yard scramble during a key second-quarter scoring drive.
CycloneErik
Well-Known Member
Isn't that the same potential anomaly as Steele Jantz's big game against Iowa?
Sam might be excellent and might not. There's no real reason to get carried away either direction right now.
I'm not sure I would consider the Texas team from last year as elite competition. I heard they didn't have a single player drafted last weekend. What did they end up? 8-5 with a bowl game loss?
Either way it's certainly better competition than WV or KU though, and those numbers do make up for a pretty darn good game. I'm assuming he wasn't 100% healthy at that point as well. That's a step in the right direction.
No reason to say that they absolutely suck and have no talent.
They have some talent or would not be able to play well in some games. They are inconsistent. And IMO, that is indicative of poor coaching. Our OC and Quarterbacks Coach was not able to get our QB's to play at a consistent level. Common theme over the last two years.
Yes, and we won those 3 games like we should have. The time to evaluate our QB's true potential is when we play an OU/OSU/TCU caliber defense, and our OL actually gives our QB time to throw, THEN we can evaluate our QB's and RB's. Still waiting on that performance from our OL, but if they can open some running lanes and/or give our QB ample time to throw, that's when we will have true analysis of QB play.
Was Seneca Wallace a GREAT QB? Sure he was. But go to the OU game when we were ranked 11 or whatever it was and their line blew ours out of the water. Game, set, match. He looked dazed and confused that day as any QB would under duress. It's been happening for YEARS. We will never know how good our QB's can be until our OL gets ALL Kalechi/Farniok like sized/talented guys on a regular basis, like most other Big 12 teams do, then our offense should roll, even in the Big 12. That should be entirely possible in the Midwest and Texas. No shortage of OL there!
So now we need to set the standards that our QB's must be at the level where we are beating the elite teams consistently?
Hell, then we really have NEVER had a QB. Look at ISU's history. HOW MANY games has ISU won against the ELITE teams? Hell, even in Sage's senior season in 2000 when we won 9 games, we NEVER won a game against a ranked team that year. We had an easy schedule. The teams we played and beat pretty much sucked.
Obviously Sage sucked as a QB because he couldn't beat elite teams and anyone could have won those games with such an easy schedule.
So now we need to set the standards that our QB's must be at the level where we are beating the elite teams consistently?
Hell, then we really have NEVER had a QB. Look at ISU's history. HOW MANY games has ISU won against the ELITE teams? Hell, even in Sage's senior season in 2000 when we won 9 games, we NEVER won a game against a ranked team that year. We had an easy schedule. The teams we played and beat pretty much sucked.
Obviously Sage sucked as a QB because he couldn't beat elite teams and anyone could have won those games with such an easy schedule.
Where did I say beat? I said play well. There's a big difference. A QB has zero control over what happens on the defensive side of the ball. That doesn't mean he can't do everything in his power to win the game. Wouldn't it be nice to have a QB who can go out and play well against elite competition?
Sage didn't even play that well against the elite teams that year. We got whupped. He obviously sucked. Even though we won 9 games against inferior competition.
Yes. It would be nice to have a QB who can go out and play well against elite competition. It would also be nice to have an Offensive Line play well against elite competition as well as receivers and running backs. When have we had such players who have played that well against elite competition on a consistent basis?
Consistently? Never. I don't see any reason that's going to change anytime soon. I'm not sure what you're getting at. My only point was people keep using stats from games against easy opponents to make their arguments. I don't think that's a good measurement. There's a lot of D1 QBs who will have solid games if they are playing against terrible defenses.
