Rank the teams in the Big Ten West Heading into Conference Season

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RogueGopher said:
His career yards per attempt ranking:
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Top 3 are all OSU QBs, including their current one. One spot above Michigan's head coach.
Currently this year Tanner is throwing 11.7 yards per attempt, which is #1 in the conference.
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Big Ten Conference Career Leaders and Records for Passing Yards Per Attempt | College Football at Sports-Reference.com

Big Ten Conference Career Leaders and Records for Passing Yards Per Attempt
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More than just yards per attempt, he's the Big Ten's leader in yards per play since 1956. (He is the only Big Ten player since 1956 in the top 50 of all of the NCAA)

View attachment 20599
www.sports-reference.com

Big Ten Conference Career Leaders and Records for Total Yards Per Play | College Football at Sports-Reference.com

Big Ten Conference Career Leaders and Records for Total Yards Per Play
www.sports-reference.com www.sports-reference.com
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I sure hope the Tan man proves me wrong. This Saturday will be a huge opportunity for him. He was a bit rocky against Colorado, throwing behind his receivers. Thankfully Colorado was just bad and couldn't stop the run. MSU is going to make Tanner beat them through the air.
 

MennoSota said:
I sure hope the Tan man proves me wrong. This Saturday will be a huge opportunity for him. He was a bit rocky against Colorado, throwing behind his receivers. Thankfully Colorado was just bad and couldn't stop the run. MSU is going to make Tanner beat them through the air.
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I don't think you'll ever believe he's a good qb.
 

Word said:
I don't think you'll ever believe he's a good qb.
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Contrar, he's a good manager of the offense. Better than anyone in the West. He's just not a game changing QB.
 



MNVCGUY said:
So unless Mickey Joseph believes he is a legit candidate for the Nebraska job (doesn't seem like his) there is very little reason for him to do more than the bare minimum over the remainder of the season. Can't imagine them working hard in recruiting or spending hours pouring over the gameplan when they know they are just going to get fired in a few months anyway.
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He’s already recruiting. In fact, he was at a high school game in Lincoln on Friday and the crowd was chanting his name.

I guess he is auditioning for a head coaching position, be it at Nebraska or elsewhere.
 

MennoSota said:
Contrar, he's a good manager of the offense. Better than anyone in the West. He's just not a game changing QB.
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I think what you mean is that he will never pass your arbitrary eye test of what is a game changing QB.

I would say he was pretty game changing against Penn State when he went 18-20 for 339 yds and 3 TDs. I would say he was pretty game changing against Purdue when he went 21-22 for 396 yds and 4 TDs. And I would say he was pretty game changing against Auburn when he went 19-29 for 278 yds and 2 TDs.

Would you agree?
 

MennoSota said:
Contrar, he's a good manager of the offense. Better than anyone in the West. He's just not a game changing QB.
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The Georgia qb and Aj McCarron are basically what you are describing Tanner Morgan as and it turned out well for them.
 





matt said:
I think what you mean is that he will never pass your arbitrary eye test of what is a game changing QB.

I would say he was pretty game changing against Penn State when he went 18-20 for 339 yds and 3 TDs. I would say he was pretty game changing against Purdue when he went 21-22 for 396 yds and 4 TDs. And I would say he was pretty game changing against Auburn when he went 19-29 for 278 yds and 2 TDs.

Would you agree?
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Well said. Is Morgan one of the elite QBs in college football, of course not. But there are very few of those guys out there. Heck, there are only a handful of great QBs in the NFL.

The game manager label gets used as an insult a lot of times when talking about QBs that are not runners. If you have a QB that is accurate and makes good decisions with the football you are way ahead of where most teams are at with the QB position. And the reality is that in our system we don't need the QB to run because we have great running backs to do that.

The future looks bright with Athan but he is still learning and developing. In the meantime fans should appreciate what Morgan brings to the table as the all time winningest QB in Gopher history.
 

Word said:
So you agree with me.
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As a manager, yes. As a game changer, no. Tanner will not win a game that requires him to change the script by being innovative. We will lose those games that require Tanner to think on his own and make unscripted plays.

If I am wrong, I will be happily wrong.
 

matt said:
I think what you mean is that he will never pass your arbitrary eye test of what is a game changing QB.

I would say he was pretty game changing against Penn State when he went 18-20 for 339 yds and 3 TDs. I would say he was pretty game changing against Purdue when he went 21-22 for 396 yds and 4 TDs. And I would say he was pretty game changing against Auburn when he went 19-29 for 278 yds and 2 TDs.

Would you agree?
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I would say he managed the game well. He also had Bateman and Johnson.
 



minnyrules11 said:
The Georgia qb and Aj McCarron are basically what you are describing Tanner Morgan as and it turned out well for them.
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Georgia has much better playmakers at nearly every position. It's not Morgan's fault, but Georgia is at a higher level than the Gophers.
 

MennoSota said:
As a manager, yes. As a game changer, no. Tanner will not win a game that requires him to change the script by being innovative. We will lose those games that require Tanner to think on his own and make unscripted plays.

If I am wrong, I will be happily wrong.
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Well by my count we are 11-5 in games decided by one score or less since 2019 so he seems to do ok in leading us to victory in tight games.
 

MNVCGUY said:
Well by my count we are 11-5 in games decided by one score or less since 2019 so he seems to do ok in leading us to victory in tight games.
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We will certainly see.
My question is, can he bring us back when we are down by 17?
 

MennoSota said:
We will certainly see.
My question is, can he bring us back when we are down by 17?
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lol....you have some ridiculously high standard in what you are looking for in a QB if bringing a team back from down 17 is what you are looking for. Very few QBs can do that at the pro or college level.

Morgan is a very good college QB, if you can't see that you aren't paying attention. He isn't a superstar, but those guys are not easy to come by and typically don't end up at schools like Minnesota.
 


MennoSota said:
We will certainly see.
My question is, can he bring us back when we are down by 17?
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Is the only scenario where that was possible 2019 Wisconsin?
Does anyone other than a running quarterback meet your definition?

I ask because I don't see how a quarterback alone without being a Lamar Jackson/Malik Cunningham level of athlete can bring us back w/o just making great passes. It's not like Tanner is captain checkdown or missing open guys -- what more do you want out of a prototypical passing qb?
 

RogueGopher said:
Would you have described Alex Hornibrook or CJ Beathard as "game changing"?
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Yes for CJ Beathard. He could make throws that most Iowa QBs can't and that was with an OL that got him killed. He was definitely a difference-maker for them.

Now at the same time Iowa won the West last year with a QB that many of their fans consider their worst QB1 since 1999. He would be a better example to put with Horni
 

Xerxes_ said:
Yes for CJ Beathard. He could make throws that most Iowa QBs can't and that was with an OL that got him killed. He was definitely a difference-maker for them.

Now at the same time Iowa won the West last year with a QB that many of their fans consider their worst QB1 since 1999. He would be a better example to put with Horni
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Yeah, Beathard was a really good college QB from what I remember. Wasn't he on the Vikings practice squad for a bit?
 

noamfromm said:
Is the only scenario where that was possible 2019 Wisconsin?
Does anyone other than a running quarterback meet your definition?

I ask because I don't see how a quarterback alone without being a Lamar Jackson/Malik Cunningham level of athlete can bring us back w/o just making great passes. It's not like Tanner is captain checkdown or missing open guys -- what more do you want out of a prototypical passing qb?
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In an RPO offense what must the QB be able to do?
Do you think Morgan is optimal in an RPO offense?

Morgan is a very good manager of a game. This is wonderful as long as others are the ones you lean on to make game changing plays.

I do think that there is a kid waiting in the wings who will be a game changer. He's watching a very good manager play in front of him, but when he gets his shot, he's going to bring Minnesota to a whole new level offensively. But, that's for next year and that's okay. This year we will mostly thrive with a good manager.
 



MNVCGUY said:
I actually think it works the other way with the players, at least the ones with eligibility left. Those players will want to put their best play on tape to either impress the next coach or boost their stock when looking to transfer. If another team sees them obviously going through the motions and not giving great effort they are going to be far less likely to want to bring that player in.

On the subject of transfers, I wonder how Thompson is feeling about his decision to come to Nebraska.
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Think he prefers to sitting on the bench at Texas. Although with Ewers hurt, he'd be playing now
 

Fleckoff said:
Think he prefers to sitting on the bench at Texas. Although with Ewers hurt, he'd be playing now
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He had other options. I think Wisconsin was rumored to be in the mix late, sure there were other places he could have gone as well. His focus is on getting to the NFL so he might not care where he plays as long as he is starting.
 

MennoSota said:
In an RPO offense what must the QB be able to do?
Do you think Morgan is optimal in an RPO offense?

Morgan is a very good manager of a game. This is wonderful as long as others are the ones you lean on to make game changing plays.

I do think that there is a kid waiting in the wings who will be a game changer. He's watching a very good manager play in front of him, but when he gets his shot, he's going to bring Minnesota to a whole new level offensively. But, that's for next year and that's okay. This year we will mostly thrive with a good manager.
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He must read a specific defensive player and hand the ball off or pass it. What about Morgan prevents him from handing the ball off or passing?

What does a game changer look like in an RPO offense?
 
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noamfromm said:
He must read the a specific defensive player and handle the ball off or pass it. What about Morgan prevents him from handing the ball off or passing?

What does a game changer look like in an RPO offense?
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He is saying RPO when he means read option
 

Word said:
Yeah, Beathard was a really good college QB from what I remember. Wasn't he on the Vikings practice squad for a bit?
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Different Iowa QB. Stanley was there for a year or 2.

Beatherd was the #2 in SF for a time. Now in Jacksonville I believe.
 

Dakota2 said:
How much time? Under a minute? Probably not.
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I'd give him 15 minutes. He is not going to go off and change the tide. It's not what he is built for. He's a poor man's Kirk Cousins.
 

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