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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 9: One player separates at the top.

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 nine 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 probably had his worst performance of the year at Wisconsin throwing two picks and losing a fumble, but he still did enough to notch another victory for his Buckeye brothers.

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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 9 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 four games left for most, 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 eligible

Jeff Hanisch-USA TODAY Sports

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. 14 - Tayven Jackson, Indiana

Trevor Ruszkowski-USA TODAY Sports

Inside the Numbers

Total QBR 37.5
Total Before Last Week 37.4
Ranking Last Week 13 ( one spot)

No. 13 - Noah Kim, Michigan State

Dale Young-USA TODAY Sports

Inside the Numbers

Total QBR 41.4
Total Before Last Week 43.0
Ranking Last Week 10 ( three spots)

No. 12 - Ben Bryant, Northwestern

David Banks-USA TODAY Sports

Inside the Numbers

Total QBR 41.5
Total Before Last Week 42.2
Ranking Last Week 11 ( one spot)

No. 11 - Hudson Card, Purdue

USA TODAY Sports

Inside the Numbers

Total QBR 43.2
Total Before Last Week 47.6
Ranking Last Week 9 ( two spots)

No. 10 - Heinrich Haarberg, Nebraska

Dylan Widger-USA TODAY Sports

Inside the Numbers

Total QBR 46.3
Total Before Last Week 41.7
Ranking Last Week 12 ( two spots)

No. 9 - Tanner Mordecai (injured)

Robert Goddin-USA TODAY Sports

Inside the Numbers

Total QBR 54.9
Total Before Last Week 55.7
Ranking Last Week 7 ( two spots)

No. 8 - Athan Kaliakmanis, Minnesota

David Banks-USA TODAY Sports

Inside the Numbers

Total QBR 57.4
Total Before Last Week 54.2
Ranking Last Week 8 (⇔ no change)

No. 7 - Luke Altmyer, Illinois

Ron Johnson-USA TODAY Sports

Inside the Numbers

Total QBR 59.1
Total Before Last Week 58.9
Ranking Last Week 6 ( one spot)

No. 6 - Brendan Sorsby, Indiana

USA TODAY SMG

Inside the Numbers

Total QBR 60.2
Total Before Last Week N/A
Ranking Last Week N/A

No. 5 - Gavin Wimsatt, Rutgers

Vincent Carchietta-USA TODAY Sports

Inside the Numbers

Total QBR 65.0
Total Before Last Week 63.7
Ranking Last Week 5 (⇔ no change)

No. 4 - Drew Allar, Penn State

Matthew O’Haren-USA TODAY Sports

Inside the Numbers

Total QBR 66.4
Total Before Last Week 67.5
Ranking Last Week 4 (⇔ no change)

No. 3 - Taulia Tagovailoa, Maryland

Jeff Hanisch-USA TODAY Sports

Inside the Numbers

Total QBR 69.5
Total Before Last Week 75.4
Ranking Last Week 3 (⇔ no change)

No. 2 - Kyle McCord, Ohio State

USA TODAY SMG

Inside the Numbers

Total QBR 83.4
Total Before Last Week 87.1
Ranking Last Week 2 (⇔ no change)

No. 1 - J.J. McCarthy, Michigan

Rick Osentoski-USA TODAY Sports

Inside the Numbers

Total QBR 93.8
Total Before Last Week 93.7
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.

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