Difference between the Haves and Have Nots

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Sparlimb

Sparlimb

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Anyone else find it disconcerting how much better (light years) the 3rd string QB at Ohio St is than anyone on our roster? Our coaches, unquestionably, are good teachers of the game and can elevate a player's level of play. That is doubly true on the defensive side of the ball. The difference in raw talent is striking sometimes. The thought when the NCAA went down to 85 scholarships was that the super teams could no longer hide 5 star talent so deep on their roster. Clearly that isn't always true. Like it or not, to take the next step, the coaches are going to have to start getting some serious wins in the recruiting department.
 

I actually think that Ohio States quarterback situation is a bit of an aberration. To have three uber talented quarterbacks like that on a roster is unusual even for a very high-profile school like Ohio State.
 

It's such an aberration it'll probably be not even true at OSU next year. Won't Cardale Jones pretty much have to transfer? He's shown he can play, but he won't get a chance to.
 

I agree it's an unusual situation. But what makes a talented player like Jones want to go to OSU to be third string rather than to a lesser, but still major program to be a starter? Why is OSU able to land a kid like that for third when we can't seem to get him to come here to be a #1? I find that an interesting dynamic and it would be interesting to see the inside of the recruiting processes.
 

They can land them because when they recruit them, the kids assume they are so great that they will beat the other recruits out. Or they wait for their chance when the starters, graduate, go pro or get injured. Or when it becomes apparent that they won't play, they switch positions or transfer. I seriously doubt that OSU will have all three of it's QBs back next year. If they do…well then hats off to them.
As far as Minnesota goes, we are recruiting better players each year. We have only really had two good years and the coaches say a good year helps in recruiting the following year, not the current one. On the recruiting trail the coaches have a lot more to talk about now: the sports complex expansion that should get started this year, the Citrus Bowl, the last two seasons, players going to and playing in the NFL, B1G Coach of the Year, All-B1G players, the possibility of early playing time because Kill will play you if you are ready etc. We are getting better recruits…you just don't win 8 games and start getting 5-star recruits. They want to win a national championship…not a league championship.
 


I actually think a bigger difference between the haves and the have nots is being able to close the border. I am sick of the higher profile programs coming in here and cherry picking the majority of our top players. When that comes to an end then I think we will have turned a lot of corners.
 

But then look at Alabama who lost two starting LBs and were basically playing a FR and a Scrub in there stead. The FR got blown up by a WR on that last TD run (something we have experience with).

I think tOSU just got lucky that they had 3 deep at QB this year.
 

Section209 said:
I agree it's an unusual situation. But what makes a talented player like Jones want to go to OSU to be third string rather than to a lesser, but still major program to be a starter? Why is OSU able to land a kid like that for third when we can't seem to get him to come here to be a #1? I find that an interesting dynamic and it would be interesting to see the inside of the recruiting processes.
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Wisconsin is an even more striking example, you would think four star and even five star QB's would be lining up to play with those weapons. Wilson came for one year but he remains the lone elite QB to come out of UW.
 

Calling him the 3rd string qb is such a misleading title to put on the kid. He wasn't recruited to be the 3rd string qb, at some point this guy was to compete to be the 1st string QB at tOSU.
 



He ain't come to play school. That's for sure.
 

It's not like it's just our team whose starter isn't as good as all three of OSU's quarterbacks. Even Alabama doesn't have a better starter than Cardale Jones.
 

justthefacts said:
It's such an aberration it'll probably be not even true at OSU next year. Won't Cardale Jones pretty much have to transfer? He's shown he can play, but he won't get a chance to.
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If he transfers FBS he'll sit one year and play one year. With Miller likely to do graduate transfer and Barrett coming back from injury, he's got a chance at competing for the starting job - especially if he won the B1G CCG, playoff game and NCG.

Even if he just split some playing time at OSU he could probably get on an NFL roster somewhere.
 

Talk about inexperienced quarterbacks. If my quick math was right, Jones was a sophomore who had thrown a total of 19 passes in his collegiate career prior to starting the conference title game and national semifinal, and playing well in both.
 



They have the talent because they recruit talent. That said it IS very rare that those guys stick around. I'm guessing before this year Jones figured he'd be the guy for 2 years after Miller graduated but he got beat out by Barrett who is also excellent. Chances are he would've left next year as that's what typically happens. That said there is something to be said for system and coaching. Jones was often throwing to open WRs and had a solid run game around him and a solid OL. He also stood in the pocket like a champ and threw some gorgeous deep balls.
 

A lot of quarterback play is coaching + talent...not just talent.


There is a reason the same programs always seem to have quarterbacks. There is a reason some programs never have quarterbacks. Some of it is recruiting, some of it is coaching.

Urban Meyer had a number one overall pick at QB at Utah. The guy can teach.
 

Winasota Gopher said:
Calling him the 3rd string qb is such a misleading title to put on the kid. He wasn't recruited to be the 3rd string qb, at some point this guy was to compete to be the 1st string QB at tOSU.
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The way the coaches talk too he was more of the 2B QB and Barrett was 2A. Meyer has mentioned before that they were extremely close after fall practice and it was a tough decision as to who to go with.
 

Okie said:
It's not like it's just our team whose starter isn't as good as all three of OSU's quarterbacks. Even Alabama doesn't have a better starter than Cardale Jones.
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You mean Alabama's starting QB, who has been in the top 10 in the country in passing efficiency and was as high as #2 (behind Mariota) at one point? Yeah, good call.
 

Light years difference? Bowl game stats:

Cardale Jones: 18/35 for 243 1 TD 1 Int
Mitch Leidner: 21/31 for 258 1 TD 0 Int

Doesn't look too different to me. Not to mention Ohio State's WRs would run circles around the Gopher's this year.
 

GopherWeatherGuy said:
Light years difference? Bowl game stats:

Cardale Jones: 18/35 for 243 1 TD 1 Int
Mitch Leidner: 21/31 for 258 1 TD 0 Int

Doesn't look too different to me. Not to mention Ohio State's WRs would run circles around the Gopher's this year.
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Back to reality. Lets look at the stats playing against Wisky.

Jones: 12/17 for 257 3 TD's 0 Int 15.1 ave
Mitch: 5/18 for 95 0 TD 0 Int 5.3 ave
 




Bayfieldgopher said:
Let me think about that one. How about the same ones that got open against Mizzou minus Jones.
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Mizzou was determined to stop the run and left Maxx open. Wisconsin had guys all over Maxx.

How many WRs were running open either in the Wisconsin game or any game this year? Ohio State's WRs were open all day against Wisconsin.
 

GopherWeatherGuy said:
Light years difference? Bowl game stats:

Cardale Jones: 18/35 for 243 1 TD 1 Int
Mitch Leidner: 21/31 for 258 1 TD 0 Int

Doesn't look too different to me. Not to mention Ohio State's WRs would run circles around the Gopher's this year.
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Because missouri = Alabama
Liedner had -10 rushing yards and two lost fumbles
Jones had 43 yards rushing

Liedner played maybe his best game as a gopher and the gophers scored 17 points.
 

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