This game -- Leonard and Sullivan (even if garbage time) make a case for how critical a mobile QB is to run an offense
- Thread starter wildcatcoaster
- Start date
Not sure what we have to lose by playing Sullivan. He's our guy, makes very few mistakes, and deserves a cuance
Definitely deserves a cuance, and that would be a nuance, although likely not leading to the duance..
That’s kinda what I think. He’s done it running B team versus B team, but also the ball moves consistently. I do not think he’ll be durable enough with the way he plays.
No legs + No time + little separation is simply the trifecta of doom for an offense. Think of the pounding Johnson and Hilinski took. If even just one of these three elements receives an upgrade, the offensive possibilities open up.
Even our more classic throwers of late- Thorson and Ramsey, could break off 30 yard runs The last time NU had any power 5 success with a pure drop back passer was with Sandy Schwab. And that ended when Chris Hinton graduated.
For Schwab, it wasn't because Hinton graduated. To quote Eric Clapton, "She don't lie, she don't lie, she don't lie... "
And, I KNOW it's garbage time, but Sullivan doesn't throw a bunch of incompletions. See last year too.
Point taken. But let's face it -in the pocket or on the run, any NU qb is going to take a lot of shots this year. The question seems to be- six yards up field or six yard behind the line of scrimmage?
I mean "he might get hurt" isn't a reason not to play Sullivan if he gives us the best chance to win.
Play him, let him use his mobility, hope for the best, and the other guys are still there if we need to go back to them if Sully gets dinged up.
Play him, let him use his mobility, hope for the best, and the other guys are still there if we need to go back to them if Sully gets dinged up.
Count me in as somebody who is seeing the light with the mobile QB. Ben Bryant put Ip decent numbers at Cincy and Western Michigan or wherever he was before. Now he’s getting Bajakian style numbers. I don’t know if it’s Jake or our OL or both but no matter how good a passer he is, he ain’t getting it done.
Makes me wonder what Hunter and Hilinski might have been with some decent OL and OC to support them,
All I know is I can’t wait for the next coach to come in and clean house. Hopefully install the Air Raid.
Makes me wonder what Hunter and Hilinski might have been with some decent OL and OC to support them,
All I know is I can’t wait for the next coach to come in and clean house. Hopefully install the Air Raid.
We have two mobile QBs now: Sullivan & Lausch.
Time for Bajakian to take the kiddie wheels off and let them cruise. We have nothing to lose.
Problem with Thorson is that he didn't use his legs to set up the pass, nor was he an elusive runner (pretty much a straight line runner).
I'd still take a superior passer who has some scrambling/rolling out ability - like how Siemian carved up the Michigan D in the 4th Q of the M00N game, once the coaching staff stopped being inept and started to move the pocket.
EC may fall over but I would take Kain Colter clones every year. I watched the 2013 Gator Bowl victory over MSU. KC had the instincts to break the pocket and also be a primary run option. His arm was also adequate.
Colter was huge that year, but didn’t Siemian scramble for the game winning TD?
Thorson had many strengths, and used his mobility well enough.
The straight line speed he showed as a freshman was slowed by injuries. But he was a tough mammajamma.
Thorson won the Stanford and Nebraska games with long, long runs, didn’t he?
He couldn’t execute an option play to save his life, but he had some old school ‘scrambler’ skills. Good quarterbacks are fun.
First highlight here:
He had 177 passing yards and 126 rushing yards in a 30-28 victory at Nebraska in 2015.
105 and 68 in the season-opening Stanford win.
Both plays were dropbacks where he scanned, scanned, scanned, then took off.
But to take the next step as a QB, is being able to extend pass plays with your legs.
Would have helped CT's NFL career, and wouldn't have had those bad losses.
He extended lots of pass plays with his legs just enough to win the most games of all time.
Thorson was never going to be an elite NFL QB. We wouldn’t have landed him if he were, nor would he have been interested in running McCall’s offense.
Given the weapons he had to work with - an elite all-time running back, a really good superback (or two), and one stellar season from a walk-on wide receiver - and an offensive line that was far from dominant, he won the most games of any QB in history.
I voted for him as the top QB in @lou v ’s poll and would do so again. Given what we’ve learned, his 5 years and ultimate success at NU is even more impressive.
You must have watched different games - CT extended passing plays with his legs (nowhere near Persa level and even Siemian was better at it) was not a big part of his game.
Don't think anyone really thought Thorson was going to ever become a starter (on a regular basis), much less an elite one, but he should have been able to stick as a backup or at least a 3rd string QB.
Reason why he didn't was b/c CT wasn't as developed as other young QBs in reading defenses and going through his progressions.
You forgot one of the best defenses as well.
Put Persa or Siemian in that situation and we'd be talking winning more B1GW titles and possibly pulling the upset in the B1G championship.
Also wouldn't have those bad losses.
Last edited:
I feel the same. No disrespect to Kyle McCord types, we are simply unable to protect someone like that. Bryant has shown way better wheels than I expected and he's still getting clobbered. He's the guy, no question, but I feel it is inevitable that he will not be able to escape sufficiently. And running Lausch as a Wildcat isn't helping. It worked one play vs UTEP and that's it.
At the same time, KC had a tendency to hold on to the ball too long, which is why he had a good bit higher sack rate than Siemian (despite playing with 2 different leg injuries that left him a sitting duck, much like Burrow is experiencing now).
Denard Robinson was a much better runner than any Cat QB, but while he piled on the yards against bad defenses, he struggled against teams with good front 7s (hence, all the premature Heisman talk dying down once UM hit the meat of the B1G schedule).
And it does necessarily have to be a talented front 7, but a disciplined one - a la the Army D.
Finally? It adds an extra dimension and another guy to cover. When you are short of weapons definitely a plus. And It might have a bit to do with our receivers as well
Except that he seems to get hurt almost every time he has any significant time on the field so definitely have a hard time counting on him
No one was complaining about McCalls O back then. Remember the fear of losing him to a HC gig? He did a descent job with a number of QBs
I started complaining back in 2015 or so.
I, for one, was never worried about losing him. He had a great first six years and then became predictable.
