2010 quarterback royal rumble
[Ed.: Many excellent diaries of late that all but demand bumps. Larsonlo's Football Fundamentals 101 series is a must-read that will hit the front page at some point and the Mathlete's back, plus Misopogon is analyzing Cam Gordon in crushingly detailed fashion. Here's a quick one that hints at the QB duel winner.]
The quarterback is obviously the single most important position in Rich Rodriguez's offense, so I decided to take a look at some numbers from his time at West Virginia up until this past season at Michigan. What I found, while not exactly scientific, is pretty damn interesting.
Before I get to the summary, let's take a look at the charts... [ed: charts.]
West Virginia QB Charts
Year
|
Record
|
Player
|
Passing
|
Rushing
|
QB Rush%
|
Rush % Total
QB yds
|
Total Team
Offense Rush %
|
2001
|
3-8 (1-6)
|
Brad
Lewis
|
135/237
1,339yds
7TDs, 9INTs
|
54att,
41yds,
1 TD
|
18.6%
|
2.97%
|
52.4%
1,992 Rushing
1,811 Passing
|
2002
|
9-4 (6-1)
|
Rasheed
Marshall
|
139/259
1,616yds
9TDs, 5 INTs
|
173att,
666yds,
13 TDs
|
40.0%
|
29.2%
|
67.8%
3,687 Rushing
1,753 Passing
|
2003
|
8-5 (6-1)
|
Rasheed
Marshall
|
109/215
1,729yds
15 TDs, 8 INTs
|
101att,
303yds,
4 TDs
|
32.0%
|
14.9%
|
57.6%
2,762 Rushing
2,034 Passing
|
2004
|
8-4 (4-2)
|
Rasheed
Marshall
|
144/242
1,886yds
19 TDs, 9 INTs
|
169att,
861yds,
4 TDs
|
41.0%
|
31.3%
|
60.4%
3,034 Rushing
1,993 Passing
|
2005
|
11-1 (7-0)
|
Pat White
|
65/114
828yds
8 TDs, 5 INTs
|
131att,
952yds,
7 TDs
|
53.4%
|
53.5%
|
73.2%
3,269 Rushing
1,398 Passing
|
2006
|
11-2 (5-2)
|
Pat White
|
118/179
1,655yds
13 TDs, 7 INTs
|
165att,
1,219yds,
18 TDs
|
47.9%
|
42.4%
|
65.7%
3,939 Rushing
2,059 Passing
|
2007
|
11-2 (5-2)
|
Pat White
|
144/216
1,724yds
14 TDs, 4 INTs
|
197att,
1,335yds
14 TDs
|
47.7%
|
43.6%
|
65.1%
3,864 Rushing
2,067 Passing
|
Michigan QB Charts
Year
|
Record
|
Player
|
Passing
|
Rushing
|
QB Rush %
|
Rush % Total
QB yds
|
Total Team
Offense Rush %
|
2008
|
3-9 (2-6)
|
Steven
Sheridan
|
165/338
1,718yds
11 TDs, 12 INTs
|
118att,
293yds,
3 TDs
|
25.9%
|
14.6%
|
50.8%
1,771 Rushing
1,718 Passing
|
2009
|
5-7 (1-7)
|
Denard
Forcier
|
179/312
2,233yds
15 TDs, 14 INTs
|
187att,
591yds,
8 TDs
|
37.5%
|
21.0%
|
48.4%
2,234 Rushing
2,380 Passing
|
Year
|
Rush %
Total QB Yards
|
Record
|
2005 | 53.5% | 11-1 (7-0) |
2007 | 43.6% | 11-2 (5-2) |
2006 | 42.4% | 11-2 (5-2) |
2004 | 31.3% | 8-4 (4-2) |
2002 | 29.2% | 9-4 (6-1) |
2003 | 14.9% | 8-5 (6-1) |
2001 | 2.97% | 3-8 (1-6) |
Throwing the two seasons at Michigan into the mix wouldn't change much, either. The 2008 and 2009 campaigns would be two of the bottom four performances in terms of how many of the quarterback's yards came on the ground and two of the bottom three in terms of overall record.
Even beyond just the quarterback's performance in the offense, however, Rich Rod's offenses seem to thrive when the majority of the overall offense is primarily generated on the ground. From his last nine seasons:
Year
|
Total Team Offense Rush %
|
Record
|
2005
|
73.2%
|
11-1
(7-0)
|
2002
|
67.8%
|
9-4
(6-1)
|
2006
|
65.7%
|
11-2
(5-2)
|
2007
|
65.1%
|
11-2
(5-2)
|
2004
|
60.4%
|
8-4
(4-2)
|
2003
|
57.6%
|
8-5
(6-1)
|
2001
|
52.4%
|
3-8
(1-6)
|
2008
|
50.8%
|
3-9
(2-6)
|
2009
|
48.4%
|
5-7
(1-7)
|
And these aren't even necessarily based on the quality of the team. If this was ranked on team total rushing yards it would make sense that more yards would generally be correlated to a better record, but these are rushing percentages compared to the rest of the offense on a year-by-year basis, comparing one aspect of the team to another aspect of the same team.
Very interesting findings, if you ask me. Findings that point to Denard Robinson being the ticket to the promised land? Maybe. Clearly Rich Rodriguez's offense flourishes with a quarterback that can run, and run often. His best team had 73% of their total offense come on the ground. Its quarterback ran for 125 more yards than he passed for. Sounds like Denard to me.
Also notice that after White's first season--in which passing was sporadic and the team was heavily reliant on his rushing offense--his passing stats took off. As Denard's passing game develops, his rushing options will open up more, and as Steve Slaton got to experience, this opens the door for an unbelievable rushing attack from your running backs as well.
Agree? Disagree? Let me know what you see in these stats, or if they even matter to you at all. I look forward to hearing what you get out of these numbers. [Ed: /Ives.]
Thanks for reading,
CollegeFootball13
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