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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 6

OK. Now we’re six full weeks into the college football regular season, and we continue to get more data points with Big Ten quarterbacks to see who is doing the best at their position. That includes Ohio State football’s starter under center, Kyle McCord, who struggled in the first half against Maryland but had an excellent second half to lead his team to victory on Saturday.

But there were many other performances in the conference besides what we saw from the OSU signal caller and we like to keep track of how they are all doing when compared against each other.

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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, Maryland’s Taulia Tagovailoa and surprising newcomer, Gavin Wimsatt of Rutgers following Week 6 of the college football season? This thing still looks like it’s a heat between two archrival schools — with one pulling away — but there’s still a little more than half of the season still to go.

Here’s how things stack up after another week of an already wild college football season in the Big Ten.

14
Not eligible

Matthew O’Haren-USA TODAY Sports

Cade McNamara, Iowa – Injured
Deacon Hill, Iowa – Not enough game experience

* To qualify, a player must average 20 action plays per game

13
No. 13 - Tayven Jackson, Indiana

Trevor Ruszkowski-USA TODAY Sports

Inside the Numbers

Total QBR | 35.8
Total Before Last Week | 33.8
Ranking Last Week | 13 (⇔ no change)

12
No. 12 - Noah Kim, Michigan State

Dale Young-USA TODAY Sports

Inside the Numbers

Total QBR | 40.8
Total Before Last Week | 39.9
Ranking Last Week | 11 ( one spot)

11
No. 11 - Ben Bryant, Northwestern

Jamie Sabau-USA TODAY Sports

Inside the Numbers

Total QBR | 41.4
Total Before Last Week | 41.6
Ranking Last Week | 10 ( one spot)

10
No. 10 - Luke Altmyer, Illinois

Jay Biggerstaff-USA TODAY Sports

Inside the Numbers

Total QBR | 47.8
Total Before Last Week | 50.0
Ranking Last Week | 9 ( one spot)

9
No. 9 - Hudson Card, Purdue

USA TODAY Sports

Inside the Numbers

Total QBR | 48.2
Total Before Last Week | 54.9
Ranking Last Week | 7 ( two spots)

8
No. 8 - Heinrich Haarberg, Nebraska

Dylan Widger-USA TODAY Sports

Inside the Numbers

Total QBR | 48.5
Total Before Last Week | 38.8
Ranking Last Week | 12 ( four spots)

7
No. 7 - Athan Kaliakmanis, Minnesota

Matt Krohn-USA TODAY Sports

Inside the Numbers

Total QBR | 55.9
Total Before Last Week | 65.0
Ranking Last Week | 6 ( one spot)

6
No. 6 - Tanner Mordecai, Wisconsin

James Snook-USA TODAY Sports

Inside the Numbers

Total QBR | 56.7
Total Before Last Week | 51.5
Ranking Last Week | 8 ( two spots)

5
No. 5 - Gavin Wimsatt, Rutgers

Rick Osentoski-USA TODAY Sports

Inside the Numbers

Total QBR | 66.2
Total Before Last Week | 76.0
Ranking Last Week | 4 ( one spot)

4
No. 4 - Taulia Tagovailoa, Maryland

Tommy Gilligan-USA TODAY Sports

Inside the Numbers

Total QBR | 74.0
Total Before Last Week | 76.0
Ranking Last Week | 3 ( one spot)

3
No. 3 - Drew Allar, Penn State

USA TODAY Sports

Inside the Numbers

Total QBR | 75.2
Total Before Last Week | 74.9
Ranking Last Week | 5 ( two spots)

2
No. 2 - Kyle McCord, Ohio State

USA TODAY Sports

Inside the Numbers

Total QBR | 86.6
Total Before Last Week | 87.7
Ranking Last Week | 2 (⇔ no change)

1
No. 1 - J.J. McCarthy, Michigan

Rick Osentoski-USA TODAY Sports

Inside the Numbers

Total QBR | 93.6
Total Before Last Week | 94.2
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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