Ranking B1G QBs after Week 6: Justyn Martin, Jack Tuttle enter the fray

Week 6 in the Big Ten saw Will Rogers lead some key early touchdown drives to help Washington set the tone in its win over Michigan, Kurtis Rourke light it up again in a victory over Northwestern and Max Brosmer continue to get more and more comfortable as Minnesota knocked off USC.

Meanwhile, Dylan Raiola had the shakiest outing of his young career in Nebraska’s win over Rutgers …

Let’s check in on each B1G QB heading into Week 7:

18. Jack Tuttle, Michigan

The Wolverines played musical chairs at the quarterback position once again in the loss to Washington. Tuttle went 10-of-18 passing for 98 yards with a touchdown and an interception, entering the game at the start of the Wolverines’ 4th drive. Whether it is Tuttle, Alex Orji or Davis Warren under center, this doesn’t look like a true B1G contender this season because of the struggles at the position.

How bad is it? Michigan is 1 of 5 power conference programs that have thrown more interceptions (8) than TD passes (6).

17. Justyn Martin, UCLA

The Bruins were without starter Ethan Garbers against Penn State, as he was nursing a leg injury. Martin better protected the football, but there were still some of the same old struggles offensively. They weren’t able to produce much to help out the defense, but there were positive moments with the Class of 2022 4-star recruit at the helm. He went 24-of-35 for 179 yards and his first career touchdown pass. Head coach DeShaun Foster noted Monday that he liked the film from Martin’s start. The Bruins host Minnesota this week.

Like Michigan, the Bruins also have thrown more interceptions (6) than TD passes (4).

16. Aidan Chiles, Michigan State

In a road loss to Oregon last Friday night, Chiles went 10-of-17 passing for 154 yards, and he logged 12 carries for 29 yards. He also had a fumble and was sacked 4 times as the Spartans struggled against the Ducks’ stout defense. Chiles is still raw, so we should expect up and down, inconsistent play.

The only good news was that Chiles didn’t throw an INT. The Spartans still have more INTs (8) than TD passes (5).

15. Cade McNamara, Iowa

It wouldn’t be a surprise if the Hawkeyes turned to Brendan Sullivan to give this offense a jolt. Granted, it was against Ohio State, but McNamara passed for just 98 yards and had an interception in the 35-7 loss. He was brought in with high expectations, and the experiment hasn’t exactly panned out up to this point.

Fifteen B1G QBs have thrown more TD passes than McNamara, who has just 3.

14. Hudson Card, Purdue

This has been a disastrous season for the Boilermakers (1-4, 0-2 in the B1G). They already fired offensive coordinator Graham Harrell, promoting analyst Jason Simmons to the position. He lacks experience, though, and the talented Card doesn’t have much support. He went 11-of-21 passing for 111 yards in a blowout loss to Wisconsin last week. Purdue failed to reach the end zone and went 1-for-11 on 3rd downs.

13. Jack Lausch, Northwestern

There is some hope for this offense. In its 41-24 loss to Indiana, Lausch went 23-of-38 passing for 243 yards with 2 touchdowns and 0 interceptions. He added 34 rushing yards on 9 carries. Limiting his turnovers will be key because he provides a dual-threat attack this unit desperately needs.

12. Athan Kaliakmanis, Rutgers

Last week’s outing against Nebraska was a rough one for Kaliakmanis. He went just 15-of-37 passing for 186 yards with a touchdown and 2 interceptions. The major concern with this offense was how potent could it be if a defense contained star running back Kyle Monangai. We found out the answer: not very potent at all.

11. Braedyn Locke, Wisconsin

Things didn’t look good for Locke early in the Badgers’ win over Purdue. He had 2 first-half turnovers, but he settled down and helped lead the offense to 38 unanswered points and an easy win. He went 20-of-31 passing for 359 yards with 3 touchdowns and 2 interceptions, securing the 7th-highest single-game passing yardage total in school history. He’ll face a tough defense this week when Wisconsin travels to Rutgers.

10. Max Brosmer, Minnesota

What an effort by Brosmer in the team’s upset win of USC. He went 15-of-19 passing for 169 yards with 3 rushing touchdowns, and he helped lead 2 4th-quarter touchdown drives in the 24-17 victory. He is getting more and more comfortable each week as PJ Fleck finally has a legitimate threat at the quarterback position.

Brosmer has 6 TD passes thus far.

9. Billy Edwards Jr., Maryland

Edwards and the Terrapins were off last week, and they’ll take on Northwestern this week looking to avoid an 0-3 start in B1G play. This season Edwards Jr. is 128-of-177 passing for 1,444 yards with 11 touchdowns and just 2 interceptions. He’s also scored twice on the ground.

8. Dylan Raiola, Nebraska

The 5-star freshman had his roughest collegiate outing in the win over Rutgers. But the Cornhuskers did move within 1 win of becoming bowl eligible for first time since 2016. Raiola went just 13-of-27 passing for 134 yards with an interception. To be fair, there was a swirling wind that made passing difficult. And he was facing a really good Rutgers defense, though it was a humbling outing nonetheless. Still, this offense has enough playmakers to win on a day when the QB was not at his best.

Raiola already has 9 TD passes; Nebraska threw just 10 all of last season.

7. Miller Moss, USC

Moss endured his roughest outing of the season in the loss at Minnesota. His 2 interceptions were costly. Moss went 23-of-38 for 200 yards and 1 touchdown against a Minnesota team that entered the week leading the FBS in pass defense.

6. Luke Altmyer, Illinois

Altmyer and the Fighting Illini were on a bye last week. On the season, he is 91-of-130 passing for 1,047 yards with 11 touchdowns and just 1 interception. Altmyer and the Illini return to action this week against Purdue before playing Michigan and Oregon in back-to-back weeks.

5. Will Howard, Ohio State

Life has been pretty easy for the K-State transfer in Columbus. In the team’s latest win over Iowa, he went 21-of-25 passing for 209 yards with 4 touchdowns and an interception. He also added a rushing score. He is surrounded by a bevy of playmakers — most notably freshman sensation Jeremiah Smith (6 TD catches), which makes his job much easier. There was some erratic play in the first half against Iowa, though, which he’ll need to clean up with a date at Oregon this week.

4. Will Rogers, Washington

The former Mississippi State Bulldog helped lead some critical early scoring drives before running back Jonah Coleman took over in the second half to help U-Dub beat Michigan. He’s been a consistent presence on this offense. He’s tied for 2nd in the B1G with 12 TD passes and has thrown just 1 interception.

3. Kurtis Rourke, Indiana

Rourke turned in another dominant performance. While the competition has been soft, no one can discredit his play thus far. In the team’s road win over Northwestern, he threw for 380 yards with 3 touchdowns as the Hoosiers remained unbeaten.

He leads the B1G with 14 TD passes. Indiana threw just 18 TD passes last season.

2. Drew Allar, Penn State

This is a little bit less of a buttoned-up offense than we are used to seeing in Happy Valley, yet Allar hasn’t been asked to do too much because of the team’s strong defense and rushing attack. He has been consistent all year (9 TDs, just 1 INT with a 10.7 ypa), and has played relatively mistake free. Last week he went 17-of-24 passing for 237 yard with a passing touchdown and a rushing score in the win over UCLA.

1. Dillon Gabriel, Oregon

Gabriel threw 2 head-scratching interceptions early in the team’s win over Michigan State last week. Outside of those throws, he was on point and looked like a Heisman Trophy contender. He finished 20-of-32 for 257 yards with 2 touchdowns and a rushing score against the Spartans, but mistakes like those picks will need to be kept at a minimum in the team’s showdown at home against Ohio State.