The calendar sure has flipped swiftly on this 2023 college football season. There’s just one regular-season game left, the conference championships, bowl season and finally the College Football Playoff.
We are 12 weeks in and and we have a almost a whole season’s worth of data points and performances on 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 didn’t light the world on fire, but did more than enough against Minnesota before being pulled early along with all the other shiny objects to get ready for “The Game” against Michigan this weekend.
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. In fact, we’ve done it every week so far this year.
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 12 of the college football season? It’ll still be hard to close the gap entirely at the top, but the OSU gunslinger continues to nudge closer to the top.
Nonetheless, here’s how things stack up with Total QBR after another week of a fantastic 2023 college football season in the Big Ten.
14
Deacon Hill, Iowa
Inside the Numbers
Total QBR: 20.3
Total Before Last Week: N/A (Just now eligible)*
Ranking Last Week: N/A
* To qualify, a player must average 20 action plays per game
13
Heinrich Haarberg, Nebraska
Inside the Numbers
Total QBR: 39.5
Total Before Last Week: 39.8
Ranking Last Week: 13 (⇔ no change)
12
Hudson Card, Purdue
Inside the Numbers
Total QBR: 46.6
Total Before Last Week: 47.7
Ranking Last Week: 11 (⇓ one spot)
11
Kevin Houser, Michigan State
Inside the Numbers
Total QBR: 47.0
Total Before Last Week: N/A (just now eligible)
Ranking Last Week: N/A
10
Ben Bryant, Northwestern
Inside the Numbers
Total QBR: 48.8
Total Before Last Week: 51.0
Ranking Last Week: 10 (⇔ no change)
9
Athan Kaliakmanis, Minnesota
Inside the Numbers
Total QBR: 55.2
Total Before Last Week: 55.8
Ranking Last Week: 7 (⇓ two spots)
8
Luke Altmyer, Illinois
Inside the Numbers
Total QBR: 56.6
Total Before Last Week: 56.8
Ranking Last Week: 6 (⇓ two spots)
7
Gavin Wimsatt, Rutgers
Inside the Numbers
Total QBR: 56.9
Total Before Last Week: 55.8
Ranking Last Week: 6 (⇓ one spot)
6
Tanner Mordecai, Wisconsin
Inside the Numbers
Total QBR: 58.2
Total Before Last Week: 54.7
Ranking Last Week: 9 (⇑ three spots)
5
Brendan Sorsby, Indiana
Inside the Numbers
Total QBR: 61.9
Total Before Last Week: 62.5
Ranking Last Week: 5 (⇔ no change)
4
Taulia Tagovailoa, Maryland
Inside the Numbers
Total QBR: 70.3
Total Before Last Week: 72.4
Ranking Last Week: 3 (⇓ one spot)
3
Drew Allar, Penn state
Inside the Numbers
Total QBR: 73.0
Total Before Last Week: 72.2
Ranking Last Week: 4 (⇑ one spot)
2
Kyle McCord, Ohio State
Inside the Numbers
Total QBR: 83.8
Total Before Last Week: 84.9
Ranking Last Week: 2 (⇔ no change)
1
J.J. McCarthy, Michigan
Inside the Numbers
Total QBR: 90.6
Total Before Last Week: 92.7
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.
