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Sullivan officially the starter.

Has he? I'm not sure I see that trend. Don't get me wrong, I'm not out on Lausch or pessimistic on him, but we've seen a pretty clear trend of pretty bad play vs good teams and strong play vs bad teams, so I'm not sure I see any kind of overall trend line within that, or any trend that correlates with time independent of the quality of opponent. I am hopeful we'll see some things in the remaining games to demonstrate that more tangibly.

That’s… basically what you’d expect from a QB who we know is still a developmental guy.
 
181 QB rating? 42 points? I’d say that’s a solid performance. Unless you’re a bitter old man holding a pointless grudge…
Now you're starting to get it. Iowa is my least favorite team in the BIG after Ped State. It dates back to when I was in school many years ago. They were always the most obnoxious fans. If a guy transfers to Iowa, then he deserves all the crap he gets on this board.
 
I turned on the tv just as the announcer cried out, “And Sullivan can do no wrong!” as #1 scampered into the end zone. I then turned off the tv.
 
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Has he? I'm not sure I see that trend. Don't get me wrong, I'm not out on Lausch or pessimistic on him, but we've seen a pretty clear trend of pretty bad play vs good teams and strong play vs bad teams, so I'm not sure I see any kind of overall trend line within that, or any trend that correlates with time independent of the quality of opponent. I am hopeful we'll see some things in the remaining games to demonstrate that more tangibly.
That may be more to do with the OL.
 
That’s… basically what you’d expect from a QB who we know is still a developmental guy.
I agree. I'm not down on him, I just dispute those trying to project improvement out of each of his ups and downs. It doesn't seem reasonable to me from what I've seen to assume the Purdue game means anything for the next three games given how we've seen him YoYo as his competition changes.

The next three games are pretty big for him, would love to see some improvement. Not a death knell if we don't. I'm not down on the kid, I'm just not ready to get all up on him after Purdue like it was tempting to do after his FCS win and Maryland.
 
That may be more to do with the OL.
I don't disagree. The two hot topics on offense are Lausch and Lujan. Both deserve a lot of criticism, but both are only parts of the overall problem, and probably not even the biggest part in either case. The line, Porter's lack of health when he was out, the receievers... all problems at least as large as the big talkers.

If I could take one problem on the offense and upgrade that issue to Big Ten average, I'd probably upgrade the O Line. If I could upgrade any unit to Big Ten elite... I'd have to think hard about if I'd go with the WRs or the QB.
 
A few Sullivan thoughts:

I don't think we'd be any better of a team with him as our #1 QB. I truly believe we'd still be a 4-5 team at this point.

He's a good fit for what Iowa is and what they are doing on offense this year. They have a pretty lousy receiving corps (yes, I wish Gill was still in purple, but he's arguably their best receiver, which is not a good thing) and actually don't have a great TE for once. But they do have a good offensive line and a solid running bak room, led by a really good RB. He's not asked to do too much passing the ball and the threat he brings running the ball makes their running game even better. It's really a nice fit for what they want to do offensively.

Iowa doesn't play any great defensive teams until at least their bowl game - they only have UCLA, Maryland and Nebraska left. He should still be able to operate like he has been and not be asked to do too much passing the ball for the rest of the year. He also won't have to play in any tough environments, so he's got a pretty nice situation ahead of him.

Multiple things can be true.

1) I'm okay with him moving on.
2) He is a QB that is limited in what he can bring to the table...
3) ...but he does make Iowa better compared to McNamara and any other option that they have. He's done a nice job for them.
 
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It kills me that people can’t see the difference between Iowa’s OL and ours.

Between this and Caitlyn Clark, tell me you live in Iowa without telling me you live in Iowa.
I live far from Iowa, but I still know talent when it’s obvious. Clark goes without saying. I’m only discussing Sully because it gets under the skin of the few you hate him for no apparent reason.
 
Now you're starting to get it. Iowa is my least favorite team in the BIG after Ped State. It dates back to when I was in school many years ago. They were always the most obnoxious fans. If a guy transfers to Iowa, then he deserves all the crap he gets on this board.
And now you’re just like them. Congrats.
 
A few Sullivan thoughts:

I don't think we'd be any better of a team with him as our #1 QB. I truly believe we'd still be a 4-5 team at this point.

He's a good fit for what Iowa is and what they are doing on offense this year. They have a pretty lousy receiving corps (yes, I wish Gill was still in purple, but he's arguably their best receiver, which is not a good thing) and actually don't have a great TE for once. But they do have a good offensive line and a solid running bak room, led by a really good RB. He's not asked to do too much passing the ball and the threat he brings running the ball makes their running game even better. It's really a nice fit for what they want to do offensively.

Iowa doesn't play any great defensive teams until at least their bowl game - they only have UCLA, Maryland and Nebraska left. He should still be able to operate like he has been and not be asked to do too much passing the ball for the rest of the year. He also won't have to play in any tough environments, so he's got a pretty nice situation ahead of him.

Multiple things can be true.

1) I'm okay with him moving on.
2) He is a QB that is limited in what he can bring to the table...
3) ...but he does make Iowa better compared to McNamara and any other option that they have. He's done a nice job for them.
I 1000% believe we beat Duke with Sullivan.
 
I 1000% believe we beat Duke with Sullivan.
Who knows? Maybe? 1000% is a lot of percent - like 900% more than the max. That feels like a lot. I think you're thinking about what Sullivan is now with the Iowa players and the Iowa system. He's really not that much different than what he was the last two years though. Not a bad QB, but not one that makes a big difference.

Maybe we do win the Duke game with him. Maybe we win that game with Lausch. It's hard to say. I personally think he wouldn't be making the 2024 Northwestern football team much better. In my eyes, he is still the same QB, but he's found a nice landing spot with better players and a system that is expecting less from him than what we were. That's not bitterness or anything like that - to me, it's just reality.
 
I live far from Iowa, but I still know talent when it’s obvious. Clark goes without saying. I’m only discussing Sully because it gets under the skin of the few you hate him for no apparent reason.
No Jim, I don’t hate Sully and never have. I just dispute the notion that we would be better with him. In fact, I didn’t see anything in that Wisconsin game that Lausch can’t do.

If you want to see “shitting on” a player watch the comments on Lausch. It’s only going to get worse when he plays the next 3 defenses we face. In fact, I will say now that I believe Lausch is better than Sully right now. Apparently the Coaches believed this months ago. I realize this will be thrown back in my face when Sully faces 3 very mediocre defenses and Lausch goes through a gauntlet. If Lausch finishes on roll, I will be pleasantly surprised. I think it’s far more likely he runs for his life. It’s still a team game. Sully plays for Iowa, I don’t care what he does out there and people constantly bring him up like he is Clayton Thorson. He’s not.
 
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The Sully to Iowa topic seems to viewed only on the assumption that he was driven out of NU or, at least, nudged out by the coaching staff who would not name him the starter.

What if this is not the case and, instead, he was actively lured to Iowa by their coaches (who happen to have a new friend in the Sully-knowledgeable Fitz)?

What would that mean for NU’s future ability to attract and retain QBs? Perhaps the start of a pattern?
 
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