The college football season continues to swiftly move along with just a few weeks left in the regular season.
Believe it or not, we are now 10 full weeks in, and we continue to get more data points with Big Ten quarterbacks to see who is doing the best at the position. That includes Ohio State football’s starter under center, Kyle McCord, who had a bit of an up and down performance on the road vs. Rutgers despite the win in a come from behind second-half effort.
Just like every other week, there were Big Ten quarterback performances besides what we saw from McCord, and we like to keep track of how they are all doing when stacking them up against one another.
The metric we like to use more than any other is ESPN’s Total QBR rating. We find it to be a better indicator of performance because it takes into account many aspects others don’t, including the level of competition.
So what is Total QBR exactly? According to ESPN, Adjusted Total Quarterback Rating “values the quarterback on all play types on a 0-100 scale adjusted for the strength of opposing defenses faced.”
OK, we’re game.
So where are McCord and Big Ten gunslingers such as J.J. McCarthy of Michigan, Drew Allar of Penn State, Taulia Tagovailoa of Maryland and Gavin Wimsatt of Rutgers following Week 10 of the college football season? It’s now becoming increasingly clear that one guy is separating from the pack with another the clear No. 2. And with only three games left in the regular season, it’s going to be awfully hard to reel in either.
Nonetheless, here’s how things stack up with Total QBR after another week of a very wild college football season in the Big Ten.
Not eligble
Not Eligible
Cade McNamara, Iowa – Injured
Deacon Hill, Iowa – Not enough game experience
* To qualify, a player must average 20 action plays per game
No. 15 - Noah Kim, Michigan State
Inside the Numbers
Total QBR: 40.6
Total Before Last Week: 41.4
Ranking Last Week: 13 (⇓ two spots)
No. 14 - Ben Bryant, Northwestern
Inside the Numbers
Total QBR: 40.7
Total Before Last Week: 41.5
Ranking Last Week: 12 (⇓ two spots)
No. 13 - Hudson Card, Purdue
Inside the Numbers
Total QBR: 41.9
Total Before Last Week: 43.2
Ranking Last Week: 11 (⇓ two spots)
No. 12 - Brendan Sullivan, Northwestern
Inside the Numbers
Total QBR: 42.1
Total Before Last Week: N/A
Ranking Last Week: N/A
No. 11 - Heinrick Haarberg, Nebraska
Inside the Numbers
Total QBR: 44.5
Total Before Last Week: 46.3
Ranking Last Week: 10 (⇓ one spot)
No. 10 - Braedyn Locke, Wisconsin
Inside the Numbers
Total QBR: 47.1
Total Before Last Week: N/A
Ranking Last Week: N/A
No. 9 - Tanner Mordecai, Wisconsin (injured)
Inside the Numbers
Total QBR: 55.7
Total Before Last Week: 54.9
Ranking Last Week: 9 (⇔ no change)
No. 8 - Luke Altmyer, Illinois
Inside the Numbers
Total QBR: 57.1
Total Before Last Week: 59.1
Ranking Last Week 7: (⇓ one spot)
No. 7 - Athan Kaliakmanis, Minnesota
Inside the Numbers
Total QBR: 57.1
Total Before Last Week: 57.4
Ranking Last Week: 8 (⇑ one spot)
No. 6 - Gavin Wimsatt, Rutgers
Inside the Numbers
Total QBR: 58.5
Total Before Last Week: 65.0
Ranking Last Week: 5 (⇓ one spot)
No. 5 - Brendan Sorsby, Indiana
Inside the Numbers
Total QBR: 59.9
Total Before Last Week: 60.2
Ranking Last Week: 6 (⇑ one spot)
No. 4 - Taulia Tagovailoa, Maryland
Inside the Numbers
Total QBR: 71.4
Total Before Last Week: 69.5
Ranking Last Week: 3 (⇓ one spot)
No. 3 - Drew Allar, Penn State
Inside the Numbers
Total QBR: 73.7
Total Before Last Week: 66.4
Ranking Last Week: 4 (⇑ one spot)
No. 2 - Kyle McCord, Ohio State
Inside the Numbers
Total QBR: 82.8
Total Before Last Week: 83.4
Ranking Last Week: 2 (⇔ no change)
No. 1 - J.J. McCarthy, Michigan
Inside the Numbers
Total QBR: 92.3
Total Before Last Week: 93.8
Ranking Last Week: 1 (⇔ no change)
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