You gotta love college football! Week eight brought us a lot of great games and the quarterbacks I’ve been following had a whole range of differing performances. After this week, I’ll cut these down to every two weeks rather than weekly; Mainly because I no longer think the Cowboys will be in the market for a QB in the 1st round.
As each game passes, Romo is looking locked in and in total control of this offense. This has literally been the best football I have seen with my eyes. I’m not looking at stats; this team, being led by Romo and emergence of the offensive line is built for the long haul.
As we approach the mid-point of the college football season, I’ll begin to focus in on defensive players, because I believe the Cowboys will invest a good amount of defense again in 2015. With that being said let’s look at how the QBs did this week.
– Kevin Hogan, QB, Stanford 6-4 , 228lbs (redshirt junior)
19/39 212 0 TD 0 INT vs Arizona State
Next Opp: Oregon State
I knew this game against ASU would be a challenge and Hogan was unable to get going against the Sun Devils. Stanford has struggled in the redzone and this could be one of Hogan’s worst games in the aspect of being unable to get the offense moving. To his credit, Hogan did not thrown any INTs. This game will be a ding against Hogan, but the season still has more tests and his draft stock could stay where it’s at or drop with a few more mediocre performances.
– Connor Cook, QB, Michigan State 6-4, 210lbs (redshirt junior)
24/32 332 3 TD 1 INT vs Indiana
Next Opp: Michigan
Classic blowout game for the Spartans. Cook has the Spartans rolling, but they kept him in the entire game and he player a solid game. Cook’s draft stock is probably still being projected as 1st round pick for 2015, but he’ll need to solidify this by making a run at the College Playoff or solid Bowl game performance. Michigan is next and the game should be competitive, but State should coast with a win. There isn’t much top end competition ahead except Ohio State next week.
– Jameis Winston, QB, Florida State 6-4, 235lbs (redshirt sophomore)
23/31 273 2 TD 1 INT vs Notre Dame
Next Opp: @ Louisville
Winston’s biggest challenge was Notre Dame and they put him in some hard spots. The Irish knew if they could shutdown the run, then it would all be on Winston’s arm to win the game. Winston was able to pull off a closely contested game and clutched out a win. The end of the game was controversial, but the result was a victory for Winston and this type of win against a top end defense legitimized his 2014 season. He played well. We are already hearing that Winston will enter the draft, so we’ll see what happens the rest of the year. Winston has shown he can play well in big games, but the off field issues are going to drop him in a similar matter as Manziel, if not worse.
– Marcus Mariota, QB, Oregon 6-5, 218lbs (redshirt junior)
24/33 336 2 TD 0 INT vs Washington
Next Opp: @ California
As expected Oregon routed Washington, although I did think Washington’s defense would have challenged Mariota a bit more than they did. Mariota was able to dismantle Washington and made it look easy. Mariota is having a Heisman worthy season, and could win the prize with his continued success. Mariota was very successful in converting 3rd downs and spread the ball to various receivers. Next game will be a California and will be a classic trap game, so let’s see how he looks in that game.
– Brett Hundley, QB, UCLA 6-3, 223lbs (redshirt junior)
31/42 330 2 TD 1 INT & 1 RUSH TD vs California
Next Opp: @ Colorado
I figured the California game would be a trap game and it nearly was. UCLA had fits converting on 3rd down and this put them on several stalled drives, but Hundley was able to get going with his legs in this game. Hundley ran for 94 yards and it was the x-factor in this game. HUndley has shown he can find ways to score and ways to win the game with other options are taken away. This was a solid game overall from a leadership standpoint. Hundley is still grading out as a 1st rounder, more solid wins will cement his stock.
– Bryce Petty, QB, Baylor 6-3, 230lbs (redshirt senior)
16/36 223 2 TD 0 INT vs West Virginia
Next Opp: Bye Week
I had expected the Bears to lose last week against a very good TCU squad, but they won. I honestly did not see Baylor losing to West Virginia, but they choked. They had some moments, but Petty was not very accurate in this game and was stifled against the Mountaineer defense. West Virginia was able to get Baylor off the field on 3rd downs most of the game and this is what sunk Baylor. This was not a good game by Petty, but the team was sloppy overall and this was more of a trap game in which they fell head first into.
Petty’s draft stock is probably the most unstable from the bunch that I have been covering. I’ve seen several mocks and analysts penciling Petty in from the 3rd – 5th round. He’ll really need to finish strong, and he’ll need to play at the Senior Bowl, if he struggles the rest of the year and skips the Senior Bowl, his stock will dip substantially. Keep watching.
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