Fresno State Football: Ranking 2022’s Opposing Quarterbacks
Which of the Bulldogs’ foes look like they’ll be in the best shape under center this season?
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There are a few talented signal-callers on the docket.
12. Cal Poly – Spencer Brasch
The Mustangs haven’t yet found their footing under head coach Beau Baldwin, but 2022 might be their first best chance to finally make some headway in the Big Sky. That’ll depend on a big step forward from Brasch, though, after he made seven starts last season with mixed results. He completed 54.3% of his throws for 1,725 yards and ten touchdowns, but he also had a 3.4% interception rate.
11. UConn – Ta’Quan Roberson or Tyler Phommachanh
The Huskies’ quarterback situation in 2021 got messy — three different players threw at least 50 passes — but the race for the QB1 role in Jim Mora’s first year at the helm is a little more clear cut. Phommachanh is the lone incumbent left to compete for the job, but he underwhelmed with a completion rate under 50%, an average of 4.5 yards per attempt, and just one touchdown in three games.
Roberson, on the other hand, transferred from Penn State and could provide a shot in the arm with his running ability if he wins the competition.
10. New Mexico – Miles Kendrick or Isaiah Chavez or CJ Montes
In 2021, the Lobos finished dead last among FBS teams in offensive SP+ because a rash of injuries plagued the quarterback room and, once Terry Wilson was knocked out for the year, no one could step up and answer the bell. There isn’t a whole lot of clarity this time around, either: Chavez shocked the Bulldogs in the 2020 season finale, but with only seven career games he’s still something of an enigma.
That goes double for Montes, who was clearly overmatched in his lone start last season against Colorado State, and Kendrick, who was adequate in a pair of 2020 starts for Kansas but otherwise rarely saw the field in three years with the Jayhawks.
9. Wyoming – Andrew Peasley
Peasley seems to have the inside track to the starting job in Laramie, but it’s not a guarantee he’ll be an improvement on Sean Chambers and Levi Williams. For his career, his completion rate is still just 53.8% and his interception rate is 3.8%, both of which he’ll need to improve upon if the Cowboys are going to make noise in 2022.
8. Hawaii – Brayden Schager or Cammon Cooper
Schager rallied the Warriors to a shocking victory over the Bulldogs at home last year, but it’s not a given that he’ll lock up the starting job with Cooper in the mix. Both bring something a little different to the table — Schager has a little more mobility while Cooper has the stronger arm and the physique to withstand hits in the pocket — but either should make a wide-open Hawaii offense look interesting.
7. Nevada – Nate Cox or Shane Illingworth
Cox did about as well as he could in last year’s Quick Lane Bowl, given that nearly all of the Wolf Pack’s major passing game contributors elected to skip the game, but a recent DUI arrest may not endear him to Ken Wilson and the rest of the new coaching staff in Reno.
When Illingworth gets into the fold for fall camp, then, the door could be wide open for him to seize the starting job. He was decent across two years of play with Oklahoma State, winning all three starts he made while completing 69-of-120 passes for 939 yards and seven touchdowns against just two interceptions.
6. San Diego State – Braxton Burmeister
Which Burmeister will the Aztecs get in 2022? Over the course of his career, the former Virginia Tech starter has been a strong quarterback when he’s on his game, but he also sank the Hokies more than once when he struggled. It might seem like being a starter for the Aztecs means clearing a pretty low bar, but the tandem of Lucas Johnson and Jordon Brookshire was better than you think down the stretch last season, so it’s not a lock that Burmeister will be an improvement.
5. UNLV – Cameron Friel or Doug Brumfield or Harrison Bailey
It’s anyone’s guess as to who will start for the Rebels in 2022, but the options each have a bit of intrigue to them. Friel, of course, was the conference freshman of the year after completing 62.4% of his throws at 7.1 yards per attempt, the best figures by a UNLV quarterback with at least 100 attempts since at least 2009, while Brumfield flashed potential as a runner (5.74 YPA and two TDs on 19 carries) and Bailey held his own in a brief stint as Tennessee’s starter back in 2020.
There can only be one, though, so Marcus Arroyo still has to make the right decision.
4. San Jose State – Chevan Cordeiro
A familiar face in a new place, Cordeiro will square off with the Bulldogs for the third time in his career this season. He came on in relief of Cole McDonald for brief stints in 2019, then led Hawaii to a road victory at Bulldog Stadium in the 2020 season opener. When healthy, he remains a difficult dual-threat playmaker, having racked up 6,000 career passing yards and 1,000 career rushing yards, just the seventh Mountain West quarterback to do so.
3. Oregon State – Chance Nolan
Nolan won’t wow you with physical tools, but he stepped in as the starter when Sam Noyer faltered in the Beavers’ season opener and provided a spark to the tune of 8.4 yards per attempt, a 64.5% completion rate and 19 touchdowns on 318 attempts.
One big wrinkle? Nolan was much better at Reser Stadium than on the road in 2021, throwing nine of his ten interceptions on the year away from Oregon State’s friendly confines.
2. Boise State – Hank Bachmeier
Bachmeier wasn’t 100% healthy for most of 2021, so it’s to his credit that he still went out and had perhaps the best overall season of his three-year career. He completed a career-high 62.8% of his passes at 7.7 yards per attempt, establishing a new personal best with 20 passing touchdowns as well.
1. USC – Caleb Williams
The Trojans’ revival under Lincoln Riley is going to depend a lot upon the quarterback he brought with him from Oklahoma, but there are good reasons why expectations are high. After supplanting Spencer Rattler as the Sooners’ QB1 last year, Williams completed 64.5% of his throws while averaging 9.1 yards per attempt, tossing 21 touchdowns against just four interceptions.
Williams also proved he could make plays with his legs, too, chipping in six rushing touchdowns while averaging 5.51 yards per carry (not sack adjusted).
That stretch wasn’t without its challenges, though: Williams struggled in a three-game November stretch that included losses to Baylor and Oklahoma State. When he’s on, however, he can play with any other quarterback in the country and he’ll have plenty of weapons at his disposal in Westwood to do just that.
