I saw this post yesterday. And Im not looking to flame @grizzlyadams16, but just looking to see what an average QB looks like and how that equals to 7-1.
Just for starters... To get a 7-1 record, I would assume that is winning every game except uga.
Essentially the debate starts with how "an average QB" would have fared in the Cal, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Missouri, and Kentucky games. Payton Thorne is (1-3) as a starter. That's not good. Hank started vs. Arkansas. I think Thorne wins that game if he starts. So likely looking at 2-3 if Thorne played all five of those games.
So we are looking for "an average QB" that gets us a win vs. Cal (4-4), Oklahoma (4-4), and Missouri (6-2).
ranks in the country on yards/play allowed on defense AND scoring
Cal - 24th and 11th
Oklahoma - 28th and 37th
Missouri - 66th and 24th
Now what does an average QB look like:
If we look at the top-100 QB in college football, the range that would qualify as "average" between 1 and 100, would likely be around the middle portion, such as 40 to 60.
Rated by Passer Rating vs. FBS (Payton Thorne is 57th with a 134 passer rating)
40th - Luke Altmyer - 140 passer rating
50th - Garrett Nussmeier - 136 passer rating
60th - Kaidon Salter - 134 passer rating
*61st - Riley Leonard - 133 passer rating
Interestingly, Thorne has outperformed Nussmeier against conference opponents (which makes sense if you take out his worst game against Cal).
Thorne - 64%, 1100 yards, 7/3 td/int, 144 passer rating
Nuss - 53%, 1200 yards, 7/6 td/int, 120 passer rating
Kaidon Salter ranks behind Thorne in passer rating, but just to highlight what he has done recently:
vs. Florida International
9/16 125 yards, 0/0, 121 passer rating
vs. Kennesaw state
22/40 206 yards, 3/1, 118 passer rating
vs. Jacksonville State
12/25 147 yards, 1/1, 102 passer rating.
So I guess that gets to the question does a QB like Luke Altmyer get Auburn to 3-0 vs. Cal, Oklahoma, and Missouri. He currently has Illinois 5-2 (losses to Penn State and Oregon which is very respectable).
Wins over Purdue, Kansas, and Michigan. That is decent.
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