McKewon: Big Ten quarterbacks, explosiveness and Tommy Armstrong’s room to grow

[Saunders]

College football pundits and enthusiasts have myriad ways of charting value of a quarterback. Some are complex, some are simple, some revealing, some not.

 

A simple, usually revealing one is total yards per attempt. It’s one tool in the box, but it can give you a sense of how many yards a quarterback eats up each time he passes the ball or runs it. This isn’t yards per completion, which only takes into account successful passes, but yards per attempt, which takes into account unsuccessful attempts, including interceptions (although it doesn’t measure the impact of those turnovers, which can be massive.)

 

Again, it’s imperfect, even simple. It doesn’t account for a perfectly-executed option pitch; the running back gets all those yards. But it does have some revelation to it. For example, prior to Nebraska’s 41-21 loss to UCLA last year, we highlighted UCLA quarterback Brett Hundley’s effectiveness against the Huskers’ defense in 2012. Hundley then averaged 8.25 yards per total attempt in the Bruins romp. That YPTA average was second among Husker opposing QBs last year to Wyoming’s Brett Smith, who averaged 9.31 yards per attempt. In fact, Nebraska only one game last year in which its quarterbacks’ YPTA was lower than the opponent. Want to guess which game?

 

http://sports.omaha.com/2014/04/30/big-ten-quarterbacks-explosiveness-and-tommy-armstrongs-room-to-grow/#.U2Ejoq1dV_4

[Mavric]

Returning QBs with 100+ attempts last year:

 

1. Braxton Miller, Ohio State, 7.42

2. Tre Roberson, Indiana, 6.95

3. Nate Sudfeld, Indiana, 6.91

4. Devin Gardner, Michigan, 6.75

5. C.J. Brown, Maryland 6.67

6. Joel Stave, Wisconsin 6.62

7. Christian Hackenberg, Penn State, 6.55

T8. Joel Rudock, Iowa, 6.3

T8. Connor Cook, Michigan State, 6.3

T8. Trevor Siemian, Northwestern, 6.3

11. Tommy Armstrong, Jr., Nebraska, 5.89

12. Gary Nova, Rutgers 5.85

13. Mitch Leidner, Minnesota, 5.7

14. Danny Etling, Purdue, 4.94

[zoogs]

Yards per pass attempt PLUS rush attempts?

 

Oooh, that's tricky. And I don't quite understand it. To me, it makes much more sense to look at passing YPA and rushing YPC separately. It doesn't result in one catch-all number, but it does give you a sense of the passing efficiency and running ability without introducing style of offense as a huge x-factor (i.e, ratio of passes to runs for the QB). Say you have two QBs who both throw 30 times a game and average a pretty solid 8.0 YPA. QB1 doesn't run at all and QB2 also carries 10 times a game for 50 yards. QB1's YPTA remains 8.0 and QB2's drops to 7.25 -- despite QB2 playing a larger role in his offense and posting pretty effective numbers on the ground.

 

In fact, Nebraska only one game last year in which its quarterbacks’ YPTA was lower than the opponent.

 

Michigan State. Five Husker turnovers. Nebraska had a much better YPTA average than Northwestern’s quarterbacks, but nearly lost that game, too — because of four turnovers.

 

If by 'lower' he means higher and by 'only one' he means 'Michigan State and Northwestern'....? Nebraska's QB YPTA was clearly lower in the UCLA and Wyoming games, so there are numerous games in which it was lower. And it seems awfully strange for Sam to say Michigan State was the only game where it was higher, only to follow that up by saying it was also higher in another game in the very next sentence.

 

Either Sam or I am awfully confused about something here.

[Dr. Strangelove]

"Room to grow" is an optimistic way of saying Armstrong ranked in the bottom 3rd of the conference, and therefore probably can't go down much further on the list.

[NU5XChamps]

I looked at the positive side, during the '94, 95, 97, & 2001 seasons, the QB's were right around 7. So we just need our QB to slightly improve his average and we will have another title. Yep, I am drinking the koolaid, spiked of course.

[Excel]

B1G Returning QB's sorted by 2013 Passer Rating:

 

1. Braxton Miller, Ohio State

2. Tre Roberson, Indiana,

3. Nate Sudfeld, Indiana

4. Devin Gardner, Michigan

5. Joel Stave, Wisconsin

6. Connor Cook, Michigan State

7. C.J. Brown, Maryland

8. Christian Hackenberg, Penn State

9. Mitch Leidner, Minnesota

10. Jake Rudock, Iowa

11. Trevor Siemian, Northwestern

12. Gary Nova, Rutgers

13. Tommy Armstrong, Jr., Nebraska

14. Danny Etling, Purdue

 

Illinois' 2013 backup, Reilly O'Toole, only attempted 16 passes in 2013. I think he'll be starting next year? I'm not sure...

 

I think Hackenberg is going to have a very good year. Not sure Stave going to be the starter by the end of the season.

[74Hunter]

Ouch. Unlike the last few years, one of the biggest weaknesses on this team is at QB. Hopefully there is improvement.

[True2tRA]

Ouch. Unlike the last few years, one of the biggest weaknesses on this team is at QB. Hopefully there is improvement.

 

Biggest weakness? Or biggest question mark? Theres a lot we don't know, but that doesn't make him a weakness.

[Excel]

Ouch. Unlike the last few years, one of the biggest weaknesses on this team is at QB. Hopefully there is improvement.

 

Biggest weakness? Or biggest question mark? Theres a lot we don't know, but that doesn't make him a weakness.

 

Nebraska isn't alone in this. I don't think any of the QB's across the league are much to talk about and much remains to be seen about most of them. On a side note I feel like Braxton Miller has been at Ohio State forever.

[VectorVictor]

Ouch. Unlike the last few years, one of the biggest weaknesses on this team is at QB. Hopefully there is improvement.

 

Biggest weakness? Or biggest question mark? Theres a lot we don't know, but that doesn't make him a weakness.

 

Nebraska isn't alone in this. I don't think any of the QB's across the league are much to talk about and much remains to be seen about most of them. On a side note I feel like Braxton Miller has been at Ohio State forever.

 

Tattoo Artistry BAs are a five year program now.

[True2tRA]

Ouch. Unlike the last few years, one of the biggest weaknesses on this team is at QB. Hopefully there is improvement.

 

Biggest weakness? Or biggest question mark? Theres a lot we don't know, but that doesn't make him a weakness.

 

Nebraska isn't alone in this. I don't think any of the QB's across the league are much to talk about and much remains to be seen about most of them. On a side note I feel like Braxton Miller has been at Ohio State forever.

 

I think Miller is the "known" legit QB of the group, but I'm willing to bet by the end of the season Connor Cook and Tommy Armstrong are being discussed quite a bit in that legit category.

[NUinID]

Ouch. Unlike the last few years, one of the biggest weaknesses on this team is at QB. Hopefully there is improvement.

 

Biggest weakness? Or biggest question mark? Theres a lot we don't know, but that doesn't make him a weakness.

 

Nebraska isn't alone in this. I don't think any of the QB's across the league are much to talk about and much remains to be seen about most of them. On a side note I feel like Braxton Miller has been at Ohio State forever.

 

I think Miller is the "known" legit QB of the group, but I'm willing to bet by the end of the season Connor Cook and Tommy Armstrong are being discussed quite a bit in that legit category.

 

Miller is so injury prone, I bet he misses at least part of 3 games next year. I have never thought of him as being that tough. He seems like he get hurt real easy and then gets over it pretty quickly. He got his bell rung or something against Purdue his sophomore year and they literally carried him off the field. I thought he was gone for sure and them he comes back out like nothing happened 2 series later.

[The Dude]

Just finish watching the Gator Bowl again, and I don't have (m)any reservations with having Armstrong at the helm. He did a lot of growing last season already, I think. Someone 'round here remarked that if he hadn't thrown that 99.99 yard td pass his numbers wouldn't have looked that good. Which is true, but he did throw that pass, and it was damn accurate for a ball that sailed 50 yards through the air. On the other side of that coin, had Turner not dropped another perfect pass, he would have ended the day with 3 TD passes. I think the thing that surprised me the most with Armstrong in that game is how fast he was. I think that was the closest we've seen him to 100%. Kinda funny how we don't really talk about his injuries like other QBs.

 

Definitely came away from watching it with more of a concern over losing Enunwa than returning Armstrong.

[Count 'Bility]

Just finish watching the Gator Bowl again, and I don't have (m)any reservations with having Armstrong at the helm. He did a lot of growing last season already, I think. Someone 'round here remarked that if he hadn't thrown that 99.99 yard td pass his numbers wouldn't have looked that good. Which is true, but he did throw that pass, and it was damn accurate for a ball that sailed 50 yards through the air. On the other side of that coin, had Turner not dropped another perfect pass, he would have ended the day with 3 TD passes. I think the thing that surprised me the most with Armstrong in that game is how fast he was. I think that was the closest we've seen him to 100%. Kinda funny how we don't really talk about his injuries like other QBs.

 

Definitely came away from watching it with more of a concern over losing Enunwa than returning Armstrong.T

There is no excuses, remember?

[Elbow Bursitis]

WE DO NOT HAVE A SINGLE PERSON ON STAFF THAT KNOWS HOW TO COACH A QUARTERBACK. Not our head coach, not our OC, there is not a position coach. We have Joe Ganz, who stays out until bar close before an 11 a.m. game.

 

To the kool-aid drinker that referenced the 90s QB's, they had TO and Turner Gill to lead them. I feel bad for Tommy because he is not being put in a position to succeed. There is a lot of pressure on his shoulders. He needs to be led by someone who has been there, done that, and knows how to lead a team. The QB position is so much more than mechanics and understanding the offense. The fact that we do not have someone on staff with significant experience in this area is baffling to me.