Ranking B1G QBs entering Week 13: Kurtis Rourke, Will Howard set to clash
Week 12 saw Dillon Gabriel and Oregon survive a major scare at Wisconsin, Will Howard continue his career year in a win over Northwestern at Wrigley Field and Desmond Williams Jr. open a new era at Washington.
Meanwhile, Braedyn Locke and Wisconsin will have a new offensive play-caller when the Badgers next take the field.
Let’s check in on each B1G QB heading into Week 13:
18. Jack Lausch, Northwestern
Lausch is really starting to grow into his role as the leader of the offense. In Saturday’s loss to Ohio State at Wrigley Field, he had 201 yards on 21-of-35 passing and rushed for 44 more and a touchdown. His offensive line was overwhelmed at times by the OSU defense, as he was sacked 4 times. He also lost a fumble on a scramble, ending a really nice first drive for the Wildcats. But he led a TD drive thereafter, and it’s clear he gives the ‘Cats the best chance to win. His future is bright, and it continues this week as the ‘Cats travel to Ann Arbor.
Last week’s ranking: 18
17. Brendan Sullivan, Iowa
The Hawkeyes were on a bye this past weekend. The last time we saw Sullivan he sprained an ankle in the third quarter of a loss to UCLA. Backup Jackson Stratton came in and led the Hawkeyes on a 13-play touchdown drive. Sullivan reportedly is expected to miss the rest of the regular season, per The Gazette. He had taken over for previous starter Cade McNamara. The Northwestern transfer had completed 68.6% of his passes this season while throwing 2 touchdowns and 2 interceptions. He also gave Iowa a mobile threat, rushing for 144 yards and 4 scores. The Hawkeyes already are without redshirt freshman Marco Lainez, who suffered a hand injury in practice last month and required surgery. That leaves McNamara and Stratton as the options moving forward. The Hawkeyes are at Maryland this week.
Last week’s ranking: 17
16. Davis Warren, Michigan
Warren and the Wolverines had a bye. The last time they were in action Warren and the offense struggled once again in a close loss to Indiana. The Wolverines had their lowest scoring total in the series since IU’s 14-10 victory in 1987, as they had just 1 touchdown in 3 red-zone trips and came up a yard short on fourth-and-10 with 1:35 left to play. Warren went 16 of 32 with 137 yards, and he didn’t get much support from the ground game. The passing attack, no matter who has been under center, has cost the Wolverines dearly this season. Michigan hosts Northwestern this week.
Last week’s ranking: 15
15. Hudson Card, Purdue
The Boilermakers were dominated again this past week, this time losing to Penn State 49-10. The team’s lone touchdown came on a 20-yard pass from backup quarterback Ryan Browne to Max Klare in the 4th quarter. Card has shown flashes, but this offense is a complete mess even after a coordinator change. At least the offense seems to hum a little better under Browne, so it will be interesting to see if head coach Ryan Walters gives him the start this week against Michigan State.
Last week’s ranking: 14
14. Braedyn Locke, Wisconsin
We’ll see how this offense looks moving forward after head coach Luke Fickell fired offensive coordinator Phil Longo a day after the Badgers’ 16-13 home loss to No. 1 Oregon. Wisconsin ranks 97th nationally in scoring and 102nd in passing, and it’s clear the Air Raid-style offense that Longo brought with him hasn’t been very explosive. The Badgers had only 3 points and 88 yards in the second half against Oregon. They were not able to score more than 13 points in any game on their current 3-game losing streak, and Locke had just 96 passing yards against the Ducks. Fickell said play calling will be a collaborative effort and that wide receivers coach Kenny Guiton will also now coach quarterbacks.
Last week’s ranking: 13
13. Aidan Chiles, Michigan State
Chiles was not the reason the Spartans lost at Illinois. He went 23-of-40 passing for 256 yards and touchdowns to Aziah Johnson and Nate Carter, but the Spartans still have lost 6 of 7. He didn’t get a ton of help from his offensive line, as he was sacked 5 times, and the run game wasn’t much assistance either. Further, the play-calling was pretty conservative. Chiles and the offense were pinned deep in their own territory a lot yet Chiles made consistently good throws despite often being harassed. It was a nice bounce back performance and maybe his best game of the season outside of the Iowa win. Sparty hosts Purdue on Friday night.
Last week’s ranking: 16
12. Dylan Raiola, Nebraska
Raiola had 191 passing yards and a 29-yard touchdown to Emmett Johnson in the first half, but Nebraska fell to USC, losing its fourth straight this past weekend. The addition of offensive coordinator Dana Holgerson did seem to have a positive impact on Raiola and the offense, though. He was better at getting the ball out of his hands quicker but still missed some open receivers. But he looked healthy after a back issue and finished 27-of-38 for 191 yards and a touchdown, though he threw 2 more interceptions. He has thrown the second-most picks in the league (10) behind Aidan Chiles and Ethan Garbers (11).
Last week’s ranking: 12
11. Ethan Garbers, UCLA
Garbers did not fare very well in UCLA’s loss to Washington. The offense as a whole struggled against the Steve Belichick-coordinated defense. Garbers was sacked 6 times, including on 3rd and 4th down to end a late threat. He completed 27-of-44 passes for 267 yards and 2 scores, and overall he played well considering he had no complementary run game. Garbers kept drives alive with key conversions on 3rd down, as the Bruins converted 10-of-19 to stay competitive in the 31-19 road loss.
Last week’s ranking: 11
10. Athan Kaliakmanis, Rutgers
Kaliakmanis threw 2 touchdown passes to help the Scarlet Knights become bowl eligible with a 31-17 victory at Maryland. Coach Greg Schiano said after the game the offense is getting better, and Kaliakmanis is a big part of that. He was sharp in this one, going 20-of-30 for 238 yards to help Rutgers rebound from a winless October.
Overall, though, Kaliakmanis hasn’t been the most efficient quarterback in the league. He is completing just 55.1 percent of his throws, tied with Wisconsin’s Braedyn Locke for second-lowest in the league.
Last week’s ranking: 8
9. Desmond Williams Jr., Washington
It might indeed be the dawn of a new era in Seattle. Williams Jr. replaced starter Will Rogers, and he helped lead the Huskies past UCLA 31-19 this past weekend to clinch bowl eligibility. He led 3 second-half scoring drives as the Huskies won for the second time in 3 games and extended their home win streak to 20 games. Rogers was 13-of-21 for 115 yards and a touchdown when he was pulled after throwing interceptions to Devin Kirkwood and Kain Medrano. Head coach Jedd Fisch said he thought it was the right time to give Williams an opportunity, and he proceeded to complete 7-of-8 passes for 67 yards and a score and scrambled for 31 more.
Last week’s ranking: N/R
8. Billy Edwards Jr., Maryland
Maryland’s defense was expected to be the strong point of the 2024 squad, but it hasn’t exactly worked out that way. So the Terrapins have had to rely a lot on the arm of Edwards Jr. He leads the conference with 412 passing attempts, 50 more throws than Miller Moss, who was recently benched by USC, as well as 285.5 passing yards per game. The Terps have trailed a lot this season, prompting the offense to often go 1-dimensional. In the recent loss to Rutgers, Maryland gained 457 total yards and only punted once, but the Terps missed a field goal and turned the ball over on downs 3 times.
Last week’s ranking: 7
7. Jayden Maiava, USC
There looked like there was a little more pep in the collective steps of the offense in their win over Nebraska. ‘SC received 4 total touchdowns from new starting quarterback Maiava. Lincoln Riley’s spread offense looked sharp after a slow start. Maiava passed for 259 yards on 25-of-35 passing and overcame 2 turnovers. It was encouraging to see his in-game improvement. Maiava struggled early, going just 2-of-7 on USC’s first 2 series with a pick-6, but he put that rough start behind him and led several scoring drives and provided a much-needed jolt to the offense.
Last week’s ranking: 10
6. Max Brosmer, Minnesota
Brosmer has given the Golden Gophers strong play, especially during a 4-game winning streak that was interrupted a few weeks ago in their 26-19 loss to Rutgers ahead of this past weekend’s bye. They did not look sharp in that loss to the Scarlet Knights and now have to face Penn State at home. But Brosmer, along with the team’s strong pass defense, has been vital to the team’s success.
Brosmer ranks 2nd in the B1G with just 4 interceptions.
Last week’s ranking: 6
5. Luke Altmyer, Illinois
Altmyer continued his strong play in the team’s 38-16 home win over Michigan State. He completed 19-of-32 passes for 231 yards and touchdown passes to Pat Bryant and Zakhari Franklin to help the Fighting Illini end a 2-game losing streak. Almyer has produced a standout season, and he has dramatically improved from last season. He leads the conference with just 3 interceptions on 282 passing attempts this fall. And with game left against Rutgers and Northwestern, the Illini have a chance to go 9-3 and potentially play in a major bowl game.
Last week’s ranking: 5
4. Drew Allar, Penn State
Allar and the Nittany Lions are way past the setback against Ohio State. In a 49-10 road win over Purdue, Allar completed his first 10 passes and threw for 247 yards and 3 touchdowns in 3 quarters before giving way to Beau Pribula. PSU had no turnovers, just 3 penalties and 539 total yards. Allar completed 89.5 percent of his passes (17-of-19) in the win, which is the best percentage by a Penn State quarterback in the past 25 years (minimum 15 attempts), per ESPN.
Allar is third in the B1G in completion percentage (71.9) and second in yards per attempt (9.8).
Last week’s ranking: 4
3. Will Howard, Ohio State
Howard is enjoying what has really been a career year. His 72.9 completion percentage would be a career high, and he has already tied his career-high of 24 touchdowns he had last season. Perhaps most importantly is he has cut his 10 interceptions last year in half. And while his rushing yards are down, his 6 rushing touchdowns are second only to his 9 last season. The mere threat of him as a runner has helped this Buckeyes offense. He’s been very efficient, and he showed off his deep-ball capability this past weekend in the team’s 31-7 win over Northwestern at Wrigley Field. Howard ranks second nationally in deep ball efficiency with a Pro Football Focus grade of 95.8, second only to Florida’s DJ Lagway.
Last week’s ranking: 3
2. Kurtis Rourke, Indiana
The Hoosiers are very much in the mix for a spot in the College Football Playoff as we head deep into November, and a big part of that is coaching and their offense. Curt Cignetti just landed a new 8-year contract that will pay him an average of $8 million per year, and they have scored at least 40 points 7 times, won 9 times by 14 or more points and trailed only twice briefly all season. Rourke has thrown just 4 interceptions on 238 passing attempts and is completing 71.8% of his throws. We can only hope when IU matches up with Ohio State this week that we get an epic clash of strong QB play between Rourke and Will Howard.
Last week’s ranking: 2
1. Dillon Gabriel, Oregon
Gabriel and the Ducks survived a serious scare last Saturday night in Madison.
He went 22-of-31 for 218 yards with an interception, and Dan Lanning’s squad was trailing 13-6 and facing fourth-and-9 from Wisconsin’s 41 when the 4th quarter started. But Gabriel connected with Terrance Ferguson on a 15-yard completion before the Ducks scored a tying touchdown with 13:14 remaining. A dominant final period gave the Ducks a 16-13 victory.
Gabriel leads the conference in completion percentage (73.8), passing yards (3,066) and is No. 2 in passing touchdowns (22).
Last week’s ranking: 1