10 Teams Whose QB Play Will Keep Them out of the BCS This Year

As we are halfway through the college football season, the BCS rankings are set to be released next week. And when those rankings hit the press for the first time in 2012, you know that the remaining games are bigger than ever.

If your team expects to make a BCS bowl or a run at a national title, there is no turning back now.

As we dive into the month of October, we will soon discover who is a contender and who is just pretending to be one.

The quarterback position can make all the difference in the world.

Your team could have many weaknesses, but if you have a solid quarterback, there is a great chance you could mask some of those faults and have an impressive season. On the other hand, a poor quarterback could really hurt your team, regardless of how great you are on the other side of the ball.

With the home stretch of the college football season approaching, here are 10 teams that could miss a BCS bowl because of the lack of consistency from the quarterback position.

Note: All stats come from cfbstats.com unless otherwise noted.

Michigan State

Andrew Maxwell is one of the few quarterbacks in the Big Ten who is not a threat running the football. And while he can't exactly hurt you with his legs, his accuracy isn't up to par much, either.

Michigan State receivers have had a hard time holding on to the football throughout the season, but the first-year starter is only completing 56.4 percent of his passes. He often overthrows his target and forces the football where it shouldn't be thrown. There is a reason running back Le'Veon Bell has 171 carries through the first six games.

The Spartans are a one-man show on offense, which has already caused this team to lose two games through the first half of the season. With games against some of the better Big Ten teams on the schedule, don't expect this program to go very far the rest of the way.

Rutgers

Rutgers isn't going to win many games on the offensive side of the ball, as the team is currently ranked 80th in the country in scoring offense. The team has scored more than 30 points only once all season long and the quarterback play could certainly improve.

Gary Nova is only completing 60.9 percent of his passes, and if you take away the game against Arkansas, he only has five touchdown passes. The sophomore was able to take advantage of a horrible Razorbacks defense, but has finished three of the other four games completing less than 56 percent.

If Rutgers had better quarterback play to go with a tough defense, this team would likely be a lock to win the Big East. But due to an inconsistent offense, the conference remains up in the air with Cincinnati and Louisville in the mix.

Virginia Tech

Although Virginia Tech is sitting with three losses next to its name, the Hokies surprisingly still have a shot at reaching the ACC Championship Game, especially with the lack of quality teams in the conference at the moment. But quarterback Logan Thomas must improve if any of that is going to happen.

The quarterback who many like to compare to Cam Newton has thrown seven interceptions to 10 touchdown passes, and all of those turnovers have come in the last four games. He is also completing only 52.8 percent of his passes and hasn't even been much of a threat running the football this season, as he is averaging less than three yards a carry.

Many had Thomas as a sleeper pick in this year’s NFL draft, but at this point it looks like the quarterback with tons of upside will have to return for his senior season to improve his stock.

Michigan

Everybody loves watching Denard Robinson play the game of football, but it is going to be hard for Michigan to climb out of an early hole with him playing quarterback. The Wolverines have already lost two games, just barely climbed back into the Top 25, and with Nebraska, Michigan State and Ohio State on the schedule, things aren't looking good.

Robinson is basically this entire Michigan offense, as it looks like he will be the leading rusher and passer for this squad three years in a row. But in the same way he can make your jaw drop, he can put the team in a very difficult situation and cost them a game. Already in five games the senior quarterback has thrown eight interceptions, including four in the loss to Notre Dame.

He is also completing less than 55 percent of his passes, making this possibly his worst season yet in his career in Ann Arbor.

Michigan is still a popular team that BCS bowls would pick up in a heartbeat to play in a big game, but with Robinson's decision making yet to improve, it is hard to see this club running the table the rest of the way.

Stanford

If we have learned anything about Josh Nunes through the first half of the season, it is that he is certainly not the next Andrew Luck.

But, to be fair, who is?

The first-year starting quarterback has thrown four interceptions and is completing only 54.1 percent of his passes through the first five games. He did show that he could perform well against teams that don't play defense, as he carved Arizona up for 360 yards, but he really hasn't shown us much besides that.

The Cardinal offense hasn't exactly been lighting the scoreboards up this year, and will continue to lean heavily on the running game. With solid quarterbacks such as Matt Barkley and Marcus Mariota in the same conference, it is hard to see Stanford passing either USC or Oregon for a BCS bowl.

Georgia

I love the upside that Aaron Murray has at the quarterback position and believe he will eventually become a steal for some lucky NFL team. His statistics have been off the charts throughout his career and would make us believe he has what it takes to lead the Bulldogs to a big-time bowl game this year.

But his performance against South Carolina showed us a lot, as he completed only 35 percent of his passes, threw no touchdowns and had an interception. He looked rattled going up against a top-notch defense and seemed to cave in under the pressure.

And while it is not fair to criticize him after just one game, this seems to be a trend for the junior quarterback. Georgia lost big games last season against Boise State, South Carolina, LSU and Michigan State with Murray at quarterback. They also lost seven games in 2010, including five SEC games and the bowl matchup against UCF.

The Bulldogs aren't there yet and some of the reason has to do with the quarterback position.

Oklahoma

With Landry Jones being one of the most experienced quarterbacks in the country, you would think he would be able to lead this Oklahoma team better than he does. Instead, he still has trouble with accuracy, forces footballs at times and doesn't have the type of body language you would like to see from a senior quarterback.

Jones is completing 63.3 percent of his passes and has only thrown seven touchdowns in four games. He is completing fewer than 60 percent of his passes in the red zone and seems rattled at times when he lets the pressure get to him.

The Oklahoma quarterback has been on many Heisman ballots the last couple of seasons but never seems to come through, as he appears to be missing something. You would expect Jones to be much better than he is, but he has not been able to put his team on his back the way so many other great Sooners have in the past.

LSU

How bad do Tigers fans miss Jordan Jefferson and Jarrett Lee right about now?

Zach Mettenberger was supposed to provide the Tigers with a true passing game.  Instead, LSU is ranked 12th in the SEC in passing offense. The first-year starter is completing fewer than 62 percent of his passes, has thrown two interceptions in the red zone and doesn't seem to have a great feel for this Les Miles offense.

At least Jefferson and Lee were able to move the football consistently and make the occasional big play with their arm. Mettenberger thought shaving his mustache was going to answer the offense's issues, but it didn't work against Florida last week.

LSU will remain a running offense, as it looks like this team has taken a step backwards at the quarterback position.

Florida State

There you are!

Florida State quarterback EJ Manuel was off to a terrific start, completing a high percentage of his passes, making great decisions with the ball and looking like a completely different quarterback overall. Then the Seminoles played North Carolina State and the senior completed 58.6 percent of his passes and threw for 218 yards and a touchdown.

Those numbers certainly aren't bad, but Manuel simply isn't good enough to lead this Florida State offense when it is not clicking. The running game had its worst performance of the season and Manuel simply could not do enough to lead his team through the tough times.

The Seminoles have a great defense, but the offense isn't consistent enough against good teams for this program to get where it is trying to go.

Notre Dame

Everett Golson played his best game of his career against Miami last week, but Tommy Rees was the one who started it. This flip-flopping with head coach Brian Kelly is enough to make your head spin.

Is the sophomore quarterback the main starter, or is it the junior?

Rees seems to be the quarterback when Golson makes a few mistakes, but Kelly always goes back to his sophomore the very next week. This is likely going to be a two-quarterback system all season long, which has worked for the first few games but will eventually likely burn this Irish football team.

It is not very often that you see two quarterbacks lead a football team to a BCS bowl. With the schedule that lies ahead for Notre Dame, this will be a formula that will be tested more than it has through the first five games.