How clear do you think the decision is at QB?

Submitted by Eye of the Tiger on

*If* there is a decision to be made. We don't know how serious Speight's injury is, but we have a bye, so it's conceivable he is healthy by MSU. If that were to be the case, do you think O'Korn is clearly the guy? Or do you think it's still an open question? 

I feel like it's got to be O'Korn--he was more accurate, he's mobile and his skills seem to offset the issues we have in pass pro and with WRs/TEs not running routes perfectly. But I'm also wary of making too much of what was basically one very good half of football--even if it was the *only* good half of football our offense has had this year. And the staff is clearly seeing stuff in practice that we don't.  

What do you guys think?

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Kevin13

September 25th, 2017 at 9:38 AM ^

Everyone has seen now what actual game performances look like. O'Korn looked very good and Speight has basically done nothing this year. O'Korn should be given the keys and as much rope as Speight was given, that he shouldn't have to look over his shoulder.

If we have garbage time I would give it to Peters to get him some reps and ready for next season.

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wolverine1987

September 25th, 2017 at 10:52 AM ^

in the glow from Saturday was that once again in a few instances he held onto the ball way too long. At least three times the people in the bar yelled "get rid of it!" where I was, and they were right. Alls I'm saying is slow the roll just a smidge on JOK--he deserves another chance, but I don't think it's 100% a slam dunk.

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1201 S. Main St.

September 25th, 2017 at 1:10 PM ^

Tony Levine coached at Houston when O'Korn was there.  If anything, you'd imagine he would have had some pretty solid knowledge about what O'Korn does and doesn't do well.  Granted the info might be a bit stale, but it isn't as if they didn't have anything on O'Korn.

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1201 S. Main St.

September 25th, 2017 at 1:10 PM ^

Tony Levine coached at Houston when O'Korn was there.  If anything, you'd imagine he would have had some pretty solid knowledge about what O'Korn does and doesn't do well.  Granted the info might be a bit stale, but it isn't as if they didn't have anything on O'Korn.

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Sam1863

September 25th, 2017 at 5:58 AM ^

Exactly. The best example was that crazy spin move to avoid what looked like a certain sack, finding the open receiver - and the ball was right there.

I'm trying not to get too O'Krazy here, because I remember full well his ineffective start last year. However, that was last year - back when Speight was great, at least pre-injury. But so far, Wilton looks like he's regressed. And now it appears that UM has a viable option in O'Korn. Not an easy call, but I think they have to go with the hot hand.

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turtleboy

September 25th, 2017 at 12:16 PM ^

It seems like not just he regressed, but the entire offense had along with him, game by game it seemed like it increasingly became less effective, until it was just completely stagnant in the first quarter against Purdue. The whole offense was reinvigorated. They gotta grab that momentum and run with it. Gotta go with the hot hand.

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DairyQueen

September 25th, 2017 at 12:43 AM ^

Yes, but we're also considering only the flaws. What was his passer rating last year? How many wins did we have? Speight was absolutely reliable up until his injury last year. The only thing he struggled with was the deep ball, and so did Rudock up until the end (and now Rudock looks like an NFL bargaining chip, and may get a chance to head an NFL team eventually with the praise he's getting and his performances). And remember O'Korn, albeit in terrible weather, came in and looked like a non-option, last year as well.

Also remember O'Korn played in the opener, and allegedly it was planned for him to play a series within the first half even before Speight pick-6 x2, and he looked, again, like a non-option, everyone was like "okay, shoot, put Speight back in".

Speight is struggling because he's FORCING the play. Plain and simple. He needs to just throw it away, or take the sack. He's doing neither.

I'll be the first to say I'm ready for O'Korn to get his shot, but, I'm not going to pretend that O'Korn doesn't have unappealing tape as well. WAYYY moreso than Speight.

I expect to see O'Korn going forward, but mostly because I think Speight's injury is likely pretty bad, and he won't be ready in time, and O'Korn will have the momentum. And I'm super excited to see what O'Korn can do. He's got a canon, can scramble, is currently throwing more accurately than Speight, so roll with him for now. 

Speight has been frustrating to watch, but it's unbelievably easy to be a couch-quarterback here. Speight's leadership and past results are proof enough of him being #1, and with him injured that makes JOK #1, and should he slip, Peters will be #1.

The good news is, JOK looks great, and I have no doubt Peters will look great as well.

We've got a good future at QB going forward.

 

 

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Sauce Castillo

September 25th, 2017 at 7:54 AM ^

How was JOK bad in the florida game? IIRC he led us down to a FG. Things change year to year, and from all indications from what we've seen it looks like JOK has taken a step forward and Wilton has taken a step back. Also probably has a lot to do with confidence and right now we know which one of those two has it.

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GoBlueInAlabama

September 25th, 2017 at 8:23 AM ^

His first series against Florida was basically 3 runs directly into a loaded Florida box. To my eye JOK seemed to play very fast, nearly frantic. His second series he came out and hit Black on a very nice sideline pass. I am not sure Speight would have/could have made that throw. JOK has been better this year. JOK has earned a chance to lead this team. With an elite defense backing him up, he just needs to avoid major mistakes and make the plays he is capable of. To my eye this was a 3 loss team with Speight at QB. Time will tell if JOK is a major upgrade, but in the meantime he has earned the next start.

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EGD

September 25th, 2017 at 11:54 AM ^

O'Korn has earned the right to continue starting based on his Purdue performance.  

Against Florida, his first series was three handoffs so it's really not fair to evaluate him based on that.  His second series, he hit Black on the nice fade for 37 yards, but then took two bad sacks.  Nordin then hit a 55-yd FG to salvage points.  Here is the UFR for that drive:

I guess some poeple will point to the 37-yard pass and say O'Korn did great, while others will point to O'Korn "sacking himself" and say he didn't look good.  I'm usuallly more on the optimistic side, but during that game I felt like the pass to Black was more of a fluke and the sacks were consistent with what we'd seen from O'Korn previously.  The Purdue data obviously calls that into question, but I still don't think there is much of an argument that O'Korm proved anything during his Florida appearance. 

 

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DairyQueen

September 25th, 2017 at 4:12 PM ^

I agree.

Only based on his Purdue performance, O'Korn clearly had a better performance

Just isolating that game (which is what most emotional reactions--which is basically this board--will land on), O'Korn would seem to be a vastly better option.

But the entire BODY of work, Speight is far more proven/experienced at the helm.

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kyeblue

September 25th, 2017 at 9:04 AM ^

therefore, the one-seriers O'Korn had vs Florida should not be a reason to disregard his performance on Saturday. Once O'Korn settled down and gained confidence. 

I was on Speight bandwagon ever since his game winning touchdown against Minnesota two years ago. But Speight has a slow delivery (as documented by many through video evidence) which severely limits our quick route options, and his once excellent pocket presence has been largely missing throughout this season. Speight probably needs some time off more than anyone else to re-collect himself.

 

 

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