When people think of the Big Ten, the first image that comes to mind is usually three yards and a cloud of dust, a byproduct of ground-and-pound running offenses. However, throughout the NFL in any given week there are three to seven former Big Ten quarterbacks starting, ranging some of the best in the league (Tom Brady, Drew Brees) to the worst (Kirk Cousins, Brian Hoyer).
There is a similar range in Big Ten quarterbacks this year, and a look at the signal caller usually says a lot about the state of the team as a whole.
Starting with Wisconsin, its quarterback situation has been a focal point for fan displeasure for the last three years. Redshirt senior quarterback Joel Stave puts up good numbers, but for many, he doesn’t quite pass the eye test.
In terms of all active QBs in the nation, Stave ranks 14th in career passing yards and 18th in passing touchdowns, creating the illusion that he is a rather prolific passer. However, he ranks 39th in terms of efficiency, putting him in the lower tier of passers in the nation and showing his numbers have more to do with his longevity than his skill. The fact that he always has a top back to hand off to certainly has helped, as opposing defenses typically game plan for the Wisconsin running game, before considering what it can do through the air.
“We were committing a lot of guys [to run defense] because we knew that their priority would be,” Purdue head coach Darrell Hazell said. Consequently, the Purdue defense allowed Stave to throw for 322 yards last Saturday.
Speaking of Purdue, the Boilermakers have had issues settling on a starting quarterback, as they have for the last number of years. In 2013, Danny Etling was pushed into the starting role in Week 5, only to be replaced halfway through the 2014 season by Austin Appleby in Week 6. This year, Appleby only made it through three games before being replaced by David Blough.
Purdue’s inconsistency has certainly been a part of the reason why the team has been last in the Big Ten the last two years, and likely will be this year as well. However, team-wide struggles haven’t helped the situation. Prior to the matchup with Purdue, Wisconsin defensive coordinator Dave Aranda succinctly summed up Blough’s performance this year.
“He’s been impressive with what he has had to work with,” Aranda said.
Another Big Ten school has had an issue with having too many quarterbacks, except instead of having a lot of bad ones, they have a lot of talented ones. Before the season, Ohio State had three dual-threat quarterbacks who all had success at the college level. Senior Braxton Miller moved to wide receiver to make the choice easier, but junior Cardale Jones and sophomore J.T. Barrett went into the first game with no clear frontrunner.
Jones has gotten the majority of the passing reps this season, but Barrett has certainly seen his fair share of the field, putting up stronger rushing statistics than the starter Jones. However, recent games suggest that a change may be brewing, as Barrett accounted for four of the Buckeyes’ five touchdowns against Penn State Saturday, putting doubt in the mind of head coach Urban Meyer.
“Let me evaluate it, let you guys know on Monday, and go from there,” Meyer said.
Other than the OSU trifecta, the most hyped Big Ten quarterback in the preseason was Michigan State’s senior signal caller Connor Cook. Cook was on many Heisman candidate lists, but his performance hasn’t lived up to the huge spotlight.
He has a respectable 13 touchdowns to only two interceptions, but his 1,662 passing yards rank 28th in the country this year, 1,200 behind top dog Matt Johnson of Bowling Green, and he’s even ranking behind Wisconsin’s Stave.
Even with mediocre numbers, Cook has been what MSU needs: a game manager. They need a quarterback who can limit turnovers and occasionally get the ball into the endzone, and let their athletic defense handle the rest. Injuries to running backs and defensive backs have made Michigan State’s season harder, but Cook has led them to an undefeated season so far, despite the Spartans nearly losing more than half of their games.
Just an hour away from the Spartans, we find the University of Michigan and the Fightin’ Harbaughs, who have their own interesting QB story. After a couple years of mediocrity at the position under former head coach Brady Hoke, when QB-guru Jim Harbaugh came to town, there were increased expectations. However, the roster had no proven talent, so the coaching staff had to look elsewhere.
Across the conference, Iowa fans were restless. Their starting quarterback for the last two years, junior Jake Rudock, had been nothing but average: never too bad, but never too good either. It’s a gift and a curse to be consistently OK, and in the case of his Hawkeye career, it ended up as a curse. Last winter, head coach Kirk Ferentz announced that Rudock would be replaced as starter by the younger C.J. Beathard. Rudock chose to utilize an NCAA loophole to avoid missing a year after transferring by changing schools via graduate program and heading to Michigan.
Both teams got what they wanted: Michigan got a veteran quarterback to weather the storm while the nationally touted Wolverine defense tears up opponents, and Iowa got a younger starter with a higher ceiling.
It’s worked out well for both teams so far, with Iowa leading the Big Ten West with a 7-0 record, and Michigan’s only losses have been close contests to playoff contenders.
From Barrett to Stave and Cook to Blough, there is incredible diversity in the talent level and playing style of quarterbacks in the Big Ten this season. While it may be difficult to imagine these players rising to NFL stardom like Brady, don’t be too surprised if they are scattered around the league, starting for one week here, one week there, like Hoyer.
OhioStateBuckeyes.com contributed to this report.
