The Quarterback Decision That Changed the Big Ten in 2015

Earlier this year, a Big Ten head coach made a decision to name a starting quarterback that would prove to shape his team's path to the College Football Playoff.

And it had nothing to do with Cardale Jones, J.T. Barrett or Braxton Miller.

While the eyes of the college football world were glued to Columbus—and to a lesser extent, Ann Arbor—when it came to teams selecting their starting signal-callers over the summer, the most important quarterback choice in Ohio State and Michigan's conference had already been made in Iowa City six months earlier. 

That was when Iowa head coach Kirk Ferentz named C.J. Beathard the Hawkeyes' QB1, a move that went under the radar at the time but presented Iowa with more risk than many realized.

After a 12-0 run through the regular season, that gamble has paid off, as the No. 4 Hawkeyes find themselves one win in Saturday's Big Ten Championship Game away from unexpectedly crashing the College Football Playoff.

It's a position they may have never been in if not for Ferentz's decision to ditch the familiar and embrace the unknown.

"We felt like C.J. was the best fit for this football team at that time," Ferentz said of his decision to name Beathard his top quarterback at the conclusion of the 2014 season.

But even Ferentz would concede that the decision was much more complicated than that.

In Ferentz's first 16 years at Iowa, conservatism was the constant at Kinnick Stadium. The safe call was usually the right call, and the head coach rode that formula to a 115-85 record that included just one losing regular season.

Charlie Neibergall/Associated Press

With Jake Rudock, Ferentz had one of his securest options available—at least as far as quarterbacks have been concerned. In two seasons as the Hawkeyes' starter from 2013-14, Rudock completed 60.3 percent of his passes for 4,819 yards, 34 touchdowns and 18 interceptions, throwing just five picks in the 2014 season.

In that same year, Rudock's 133.5 passer rating ranked fourth in the Big Ten while his 61.7 completion percentage ranked second.

But the Fort Lauderdale, Florida, product's safer style of play wasn't translating to wins—at least not as many as Ferentz would've liked—as Iowa went 8-5 (with a loss to LSU in the Outback Bowl) in 2013 before compiling a 7-5 regular-season record in 2014.

With the Hawkeyes set to play Tennessee in the TaxSlayer Bowl, Ferentz opened up a quarterback competition, giving Rudock the starting nod against the Volunteers, but also providing Beathard with significant snaps (Beathard played 49 snaps compared to Rudock's 19, per HawkCentral.com).

Beathard responded with a ho-hum 145-yard, two-touchdown, one-interception passing performance, but the Franklin, Tennessee, native showcased some playmaking ability by adding 82 yards on the ground in what was ultimately a 45-28 Tennessee victory.

Less than a week later, Ferentz named Beathard the top quarterback in the Iowa program moving forward.

"We had a very tough decision to make," Ferentz recalled on a Sunday teleconference. "They say, 'If you have two quarterbacks, you don't have any.' That's the old axiom. In this case, we did have two."

Three months later, Rudock announced he'd be spending his senior season elsewhere, transferring to Michigan.

Charlie Neibergall/Associated Press/Associated Press

It was a risk Ferentz knew he was taking, with Rudock, as a graduate transfer, able to become eligible immediately anywhere else—even within the Hawkeyes' own conference.

Up until last week, the 17th-year Iowa head coach's decision to let his two-year starter walk away could have come back to bite him, as the Wolverines remained in contention for the Big Ten East title until their final game of the regular season—thanks in large part to Rudock's strong play (64 percent completion percentage, 2,739 yards, 17 touchdowns, nine interceptions).

Then again, the Hawkeyes likely wouldn't be in the position they currently find themselves in had Ferentz not named Beathard his starter nearly a year ago.

With two years of eligibility remaining at the time, Beathard would have been a likely transfer candidate had his status moving forward remained unknown—something he hinted to Matt Slovin of the Tennessean leading up to the TaxSlayer Bowl.

"We'll see how the bowl game goes and then go from there," Beathard told his home-state paper.

As it turned out, the 6'2", 209-pound quarterback never had to seriously consider his options thanks to both Ferentz's declaration that he'd be Iowa's starter and Rudock's ensuing departure.

Still, Beathard was mostly an unknown commodity and had plenty of growing up to do when it came to playing quarterback at the college level.

"It's a big step going from high school to college. Especially the way our offense works, the quarterbacks do a lot at the line of scrimmage," Beathard said. "You have to know when you're [being blitzed] and get the ball out of your hands quick, when to take hits and all that kind of stuff.

"I had to show [the coaches] I was ready."

Jeffrey Becker-USA TODAY Sports

Through the first 12 games of the 2015 season, Beathard has done that—and then some.

Having completed 60.7 percent of his passes for 2,354 yards, 14 touchdowns and three interceptions, the redshirt junior has shown a mastery of the Hawkeyes offense, reminiscent of Rudock's but with a greater ability to make something out of nothing when plays break down.

Adding 285 yards—including a long rush of 57—and six touchdowns on the ground, Beathard was named a second-team All-Big Ten selection in his debut season as a starter.

More than that, his ability has played a crucial role in taking a team that was an afterthought in the preseason and putting it on the precipice of the College Football Playoff.

"His confidence is growing. I think...I don't think, I know his leadership traits have really taken off," Ferentz said. "He really has played remarkably well."

Against a Michigan State defense that ranks 27th in the country and possesses more talent than any other that he's faced in his college career, Beathard may need to play his best game yet on Saturday. 

But regardless of what happens in the Big Ten title game—and beyond—it's already apparent that Ferentz's willingness to embrace risk has paid off in more ways than one.

Ben Axelrod is Bleacher Report's Big Ten lead writer. You can follow him on Twitter @BenAxelrod. Unless noted otherwise, all quotes were obtained firsthand. All statistics courtesy of cfbstats.com. Recruiting rankings courtesy of 247Sports.