
Big Ten Spotlight: Is this a golden era for quarterbacks in the Big Ten?
When we talked about the Big Ten being the best conference in America back in August, we did so because we looked around and saw a perfect combination. We saw that the league’s best teams all had talented quarterbacks who could singlehandedly win games.
And that’s always fun.
Those five teams that were ranked in the preseason top 14 were Ohio State, Wisconsin, Penn State, Michigan and Michigan State and all but the Buckeyes had a QB with a lot of veteran experience. And Dwayne Haskins, Ohio State’s starter, was only “the best quarterback his age that I’ve ever seen,” according to Ohio State coach Urban Meyer when he was recruiting him.
Four weeks in now, the league’s best quarterbacks have all been making statements. The best thing about that? It makes every Saturday so much fun.
Here’s what I’ve really liked from these guys:
- Alex Hornibrook, Wisconsin: We’ve been waiting for a huge night from Hornibrook and we were especially curious to see how he would bounce back after the Badgers lost to BYU on Sept. 15. He had a tough test too, playing at Iowa under the lights against that vicious Hawkeyes defense. But all he did was go 5-for-5 passing for 65 yards on a late fourth-quarter driving to give Wisconsin the lead in a huge Big Ten West showdown. That’s clutch, and it probably won the division for the Badgers already.
- Dwayne Haskins, Ohio State: I wondered if his lack of experience would be a factor this year, but I was clearly wrong. There’s no need to worry about this kid. He’s got all the tools, and he’s been killing it so far for the 4-0 Buckeyes. He’s 87-for-115 passing (76 percent) with 16 touchdown passes and just one interception. When I look around the country, there’s only one team that can hang with Alabama right now, and that’s the Buckeyes. Haskins is the reason why.
- Trace McSorley, Penn State: The Nittany Lions are on a roll, scoring a whopping 177 points in the past three games as the offense led by McSorley continues to hum along. They are making big plays in both the passing game and the running game, and the play-calling and McSorley’s decision-making has been great. What’s scary is that I don’t think they’ve even been showing us much so far. I think they’ve been waiting to open the playbook, and that comes Saturday in the huge showdown with Ohio State.
- Shea Patterson, Michigan: Patterson is the new guy at Michigan but his 10 starts over two years at Ole Miss has him more than ready for the big stage in Ann Arbor. Jim Harbaugh, ultra-conservative by nature, hasn’t really unleashed him yet, though he’s getting more and more comfortable with Patterson chucking the ball all over the field. He’s got great weapons on the outside and an offensive line that’s getting better. Mark my words, he’s going to be a stud later in the year in those big games.
- Brian Lewerke, Michigan State: The Spartans got off to a slow start, and Lewerke was more than willing to take some responsibility for that, though the defense was really the one that needed to do the apologizing. Knowing that a win at Indiana was critical, Lewerke was great Saturday night in a 35-21 win on the road. He was 14-for-25 passing for 210 yards and two touchdowns, and he also caught a pass. He ran things beautifully, so look for this team to go on a bit of a roll now.
And this is just a start, really. I thought Iowa quarterback Nate Stanley played great Saturday night against Wisconsin, throwing for 268 yards against that stout Wisconsin defense. He played good enough to win, especially if they could have just finished off drives a little better.
Kudos, too, to Purdue quarterback David Blough. He played great Saturday night to get the Boilers in the win column with an impressive win over No. 23 Boston College. He was 21-for-28 passing for 298 yards and three scores, and that was coming off his record-breaking 572 yards passing a week earlier in the wild loss to Missouri. Despite the three early losses — by a total of eight points, by the way — Purdue might be the second-best team in the Big Ten West.
Other guys around the league are doing good things, too, and that’s what has been making this season so much fun, and we’re just getting started.
Keep flinging it, boys.