Please. Before the Union thing, I thought the coaches were nuts playing a WR ahead of a future NFL QB. The Union thing just proved what the kid was all about. Had nothing to do with what he brought to the field, only to the lockerroom.
"Pro style quarterback"
- Thread starter NUCat320
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Please. Before the Union thing, I thought the coaches were nuts playing a WR ahead of a future NFL QB. The Union thing just proved what the kid was all about. Had nothing to do with what he brought to the field, only to the lockerroom.
The same could be said for Siemian except teams could focus on the pass without worrying about the read option and Mark. And let's not forget Colter had a higher TD scored rate than TS as well. Colter was excellent in the redzone.
And with our weak OL, nobody sprung Mark like Kain Colter.
89% on throws under 15 yards is uncanny accuracy regardless of the short distance. Combine that with weak OL play and need to run the read option with Mark and Colter's play is justified.
There's a reason why Colter was almost always brought in in the redzone.
Siemian was an excellent passing QB who would have flourished with good receivers and playing behind a good OL. Unfortunately, we had a weak OL and average WR's while he was at NU. Playing Colter, which enabled us to spring Mark, was the best way to bring some balance to the offense. Certainly, we could have played TS more often than we did to teams more off balance, but Colter helped offset a poor OL, kept teams off balance when effective, and was deadly in the redzone.
Not if you had a RB, or in lieu of that, if McCall had actually used Siemian's talents in being able to extend plays with his legs (which he really didn't do until the 4th Q of the MOON game and the ND game).
Mark still ran pretty well w/ Siemian under center and was a pretty good pass catcher out of the backfield as well (see the Ohio State game).
Here are Trevor's highlights from 2008.
Interspersed with the downfield passes are plays were Siemian made some nifty moves with his legs.
Yeah, TS is not a running QB, but he certainly has enough mobility/athleticism to extend plays w/ his legs.
Whether that be extending the play in order to evade the rush and buy time for a receiver to get open or simply running for the 1st down if its there.
As I have stated numerous times before, McCoy misused TS and didn't make the most out of his talents.
The most dangerous kind of QB is the one who can keep plays alive w/ his legs, but always looking downfield for the open pass (that's what made Persa so dangerous).
That's far better than a running QB who tucks it and runs.
Case in point - UM's Denard Robinson who was a more dynamic runner than Colter (Shoelace had a 4.43 time at the NFL combine).
Every season it seemed, Robinson would put up huge rushing nos. with the accompanying Heisman hype, but then UM would hit the meat of the B1G schedule and actually play some good defenses and there went the Heisman campaign.
Penn State had 3 4* "dual-threat" QBs, but who ended up winning the PSU starting QB job? A walk-on by the name of Matt McGloin.
None of those supposed DT QBs could pass the ball which really hampered the offense (for another example, see LSU and their struggles on offense due to their QBs).
If KC had been able to extend plays w/ his legs and look to pass the ball instead of simply tucking and running after his 1st or 2nd read, there probably wouldn't have been any split time at QB (this was also why KC had a good bit higher sack rate than TS).
Colter threw a lot more screen passes than Siemian.
Don't have a problem w/ that - altho, Siemian didn't do too badly on a few runs that he had in the RZ either.
Actually think the philosophy in using the 2 QBs was often backwards.
KC starting the drive and then bringing in TS when the drive stalled and it was 3rd and long.
It would have been better to have TS lead most of the drives and then bring in KC on short yardage situations.
Remember, when the 'Cats were behind and needed a quick score or go down the length of the field, it was usually TS who got the call.
Again, the 'Cats didn't have a poor O-line in 2014?
That O-line was worse than 2013 O-line and definitely worse than 2012.
For 3 quarters of the MOON game, we saw how bad the O-line was and McCall's solution for the 1st 3 quarters was for TS to take the shotgun snap further back in the pocket.
Finally, McCall let Siemian "free" in the 4th Q and we saw the 'Cats mount a furious comeback (which should have resulted in a W) - traversing the length of the field twice against that very same UM D.
Siemian ended up with a very respectable 273 yds passing of which most came in the 4th Q.
The team finished with negative 9 yds rushing due to all the sacks and JJtBC averaging 2.1 ypc (longest run was for 6 yds).
(We also saw how bad the O-line was in 2014 in the Western Illinois game where Siemian got hammered and Trevor was a sitting duck as he was playing thru his high ankle sprain injury).
Speaking of a pass rush pinning their ears back and really going after the QB - we saw how PSU's pass rush really harassed JT Barrett in the 4th Q.
Heisman winner Lamar Jackson didn't fare too well when he faced a good SEC D in LSU.
10 of 27 for 153 yds passing
26 carries for 31 yds (1.3 ypc)
Anyhow, here's another interesting thing about Siemian from last season w/ Denver.
Up thru week 12, Trevor was in elite company when it came to 3rd down passer rating.
TS wasn't able to keep that up for the remainder of the season for a variety of reasons,but he still finished 8th among all QBs on 3rd and long passes.
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I noticed that you sidestepped the 2013 Nebraska and Minnesota games.
He "didn't play much" in the Nebraska game because he served up a pick-6 that let Nebraska back into the game. Same was true with the Minnesota game. Perhaps the flurry of interceptions and pick-6's is why McCall went with Colter against Iowa, though Siemian was pretty beat up and nursing a foot injury against Minnesota. The need to generate a running game was also a factor.
Can't say that...Colter didn't play in 2014.
What I remember about that game is Siemian's repeated failure to elude the sack when running to his right. He was sacked 5-6 times (once for a 21-yard loss), including the horrible final play. When allowed to roll out in the 4th Q, he did very well. The final play was another example of our poor OL, Siemian's inability to elude a sack, and poor play calling coming together for another gut-wrenching loss.
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Kubiak is smart and would have started Colter and played Siemian more...but Siemian always gets injured and is less than 100%. Kubiak happened to catch one rare game where he was healthy and had a great game.
IMO, the main thing stopping us from challenging for a Big Ten title is our poor OL recruitment and development. Until that problem is fixed, we'll always be limited and our QB's will struggle with sacks and resulting injuries. It's amazing how well we've done recruiting good QB's through the years, yet we cannot provide a good enough OL for them to really excel.
Keep telling yourself that and make up things if it makes you feel better. I'll stick to the facts. And the facts are that Kubiak wouldn't have and didn't draft Colter. Neither did any other coach or GM in the NFL. Nor did a porous Bronco OL prevent him from starting him in the NFL against the best defensive ends in the game.
Did you know that NU is in the Big Ten and not the NFL. Pretty big difference in terms of schemes.
Fitz must have sucked if he never got drafted. Maybe NU should return all of his awards and nullify his quick HOF induction.
And we all laugh at your wife's ugly mug.
There, doesn't that make us all warm and cozy with completely uninvited personal attacks? Oh, I'm sorry, I was baited.
That's ok. Fitz didn't play in front of NFL starters, so he really was the best that we had at the time.
LOL! Fitz played in front of and alongside an early 2nd round draft pick who started 24 games in his 8-year NFL career.
We admire your encyclopedic knowledge of NU football as well.
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LOL! Fitz played in front of and alongside an early 2nd round draft pick who started 24 games in his 8-year NFL career.
We admire your encyclopedic knowledge of NU football as well.
And Tim Scharf, who was drafted in the 6th round.
LOL! Fitz played in front of and alongside an early 2nd round draft pick who started 24 games in his 8-year NFL career.
We admire your encyclopedic knowledge of NU football as well.
In the 4th Q during the comeback, Trevor did roll out to the right with success, including stepping to the right and then running up the field for the 1st down.
As for the last play (disagreed w/ the play-calling, much less going for it), Siemian had no shot - TWO blockers totally whiffed on the UM defensive player who got to Trevor (reminds me of the Broncos O-line last season, who couldn't protect their QB even when it was a 5 on 3 or 6 on 4 situation).
