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USA Today Sports Media Group
USA Today Sports Media Group
Sport
Phil Harrison

Big Ten quarterbacks ranked by Total QBR after Week 2: A big move by Ohio State’s Kyle McCord

We are now two weeks into the college football regular season, and we’re able to stack multiple games with Big Ten quarterbacks to see which are doing the best at their position, including Ohio State football’s new starter under center, Kyle McCord.

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.

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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 is McCord and other Big Ten signal-callers like J.J. McCarthy of Michigan, Drew Allar of Penn State, and Cade McNamara of Iowa following Week 2 of the college football season?

Here’s how things stack up after another week of the still new college and Big Ten football season.

14
Ben Bryant, Northwestern

Jamie Sabau-USA TODAY Sports

Inside the Numbers

Total QBR | 27.2
Total Before Last Week | 23.1
Ranking Last Week | 14 (⇔ no change)

13
Jeff Sims, Nebraska

Ron Chenoy-USA TODAY Sports

Inside the Numbers

Total QBR | 35.9
Total Before Last Week | 34.9
Ranking Last Week | 12 ( one spot)

12
Tanner Mordecai, Wisconsin

James Snook-USA TODAY Sports

Inside the Numbers

Total QBR | 37.3
Total Before Last Week | 34.9
Ranking Last Week | 10 ( two spots)

11
Brendan Sorsby, Indiana

USA TODAY Sports

Inside the Numbers

Total QBR | 38.8
Total Before Last Week | 28.0
Ranking Last Week | 13 ( two spots)

10
Cade McNamara, Iowa

Jeffrey Becker-USA TODAY Sports

Inside the Numbers

Total QBR | 35.9
Total Before Last Week | 42.8
Ranking Last Week | 11 ( one spot)

9
Athan Kaliakmanis, Minnesota

Matt Krohn-USA TODAY Sports

Inside the Numbers

Total QBR | 55.7
Total Before Last Week | 53.1
Ranking Last Week | 9 (⇔ no change)

8
Noah Kim, Michigan State

USA TODAY Sports

Inside the Numbers

Total QBR | 59.4
Total Before Last Week | 60.6
Ranking Last Week | 8 (⇔ no change)

7
Hudson Card, Purdue

USA TODAY Sports

Inside the Numbers

Total QBR | 60.6
Total Before Last Week | 66.4
Ranking Last Week | 7 (⇔ no change)

6
Taulia Tagovailoa, Maryland

Tommy Gilligan-USA TODAY Sports

Inside the Numbers

Total QBR | 64.1
Total Before Last Week | 86.4
Ranking Last Week | 2 ( four spots)

5
Luke Altmyer, Illinois

Jay Biggerstaff-USA TODAY Sports

Inside the Numbers

Total QBR | 66.2
Total Before Last Week | 80.6
Ranking Last Week | 5 (⇔ no change)

4
Gavin Wimsatt, Rutgers

Vincent Carchietta-USA TODAY Sports

Inside the Numbers

Total QBR | 75.1
Total Before Last Week | 81.9
Ranking Last Week | 4 (⇔ no change)

3
Drew Allar, Penn State

Matthew O’Haren-USA TODAY Sports

Inside the Numbers

Total QBR | 83.5
Total Before Last Week | 86.0
Ranking Last Week | 3 (⇔ no change)

2
Kyle McCord, Ohio State

Joseph Maiorana-USA TODAY Sports

Inside the Numbers

Total QBR | 84.5
Total Before Last Week | 78.1
Ranking Last Week | 6 ( four spots)

1
J.J. McCarthy, Michigan

USA TODAY Sports

Inside the Numbers

Total QBR | 95.3
Total Before Last Week | 95.4
Ranking Last Week | 1 (⇔ no change)

Contact/Follow us @BuckeyesWire on X (formerly Twitter), and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Ohio State news, notes, and opinion. Follow Phil Harrison on X.

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