Big East Football QB Power Rankings: Pitt's Tino Sunseri, WVU's Geno Smith Lead
As a group, the eight Big East quarterbacks have failed to distinguish themselves so far in 2010.
The overall ranking of the league's quarterbacks as determined by the 2010 NCAA I-A College Football Individual Statistics is 72. Overall, 112 quarterbacks have been rated.
The highest-ranked Big East QB is Geno Smith of West Virginia at 41.
Rutgers' Tom Savage is the lowest-ranked Big East QB at 92.
Quarterbacks for Connecticut, Syracuse, and South Florida cluster in the high 70s.
The nation's lowest-ranked FBS quarterbacks do not hail from the Big East.
The bottom-dwellers are Kevin Prince of UCLA (111) and DeMarcus Grady of Northern Illinois (112).
Geno Smith Ranks No. 1 in Big East, No. 41 in Nation
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Geno Smith has led the Mountaineers to a 2-0 record, completing 72.2 percent of his passes. He has powered the West Virginia offense to 532 yards in two games.
More importantly to WVU, Smith is a hero. The Mountaineers’ sophomore starting quarterback took the offense on a 98-yard drive with 3:09 to go in WVU’s game against Marshall and found a way to tie the game at 21 with 12 seconds to play.
Remember, that drive saved WVU from a potentially embarrassing loss to Conference USA's Marshall, the team the Mountaineers never wanted to play.
Geno has been sacked three times and has thrown an interception, giving him a rating of 145.3.
Geno has three TD passes so far in 2010.
He will need to be on his game this week as ACC rival Maryland comes to Morgantown.
Pitt's Tino Sunseri Is Rated No. 54 by NCAA and No. 2 in Big East
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Pitt fans are hard on quarterbacks. Bill Stull, Pitt's 2009 QB, was booed in last season's opener, a 38-3 victory over Youngstown State.
When interviewed by ABC during the Pitt-Notre Dame game later in the season, Stull's parents said they could never forget the hurt.
Dan Marino and Terry Bradshaw still recall the times they were booed by a tough Pittsburgh crowd.
Tino Sunseri wasn't booed in Pitt's solid 38-16 win over New Hampshire. He continues to improve.
After throwing an interception in OT that sealed Pitt's fate in Salt Lake City, Tino led Pitt's passing attach last week, discombobulating New Hampshire's game plan.
Like Smith, Sunseri has thrown three TD passes.
He has been sacked four times and hurled two interceptions, accounting for his overall rating of 136.2 and national rank of 54 out of 112 QBs.
Is Cincy's Collaros Playing Below Expectations? He's Rated 69th Best in Nation
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Zach Collaros has stayed out of trouble with the Cincinnati legal system after being warned about underage drinking in 2009. That alone is probably no small feat in Cincinnati, America's most uptight city.
Cincinnati Bearcat fans have gotten a little uptight too, watching their champions sputter out to a less than impressive 1-1 record in the young 2010 season.
Collaros has thrown the ball 58 times but completed only 35, giving him a 60 percent completion rate.
He has amassed 349 yards for the Bearcat offense, but his longest pass has only been for 29 yards.
He might need to take his offensive line out to dinner or perhaps to a training seminar. Zach's been sacked 10 times—the most of the 112 QBs ranked.
With an overall rating of 128, Collaros is the nation's 69th best QB and third best in the Big East.
.jpg?w=256 "Ohio State Team Doctor")
UConn's Zach Frazer Epitomizes Randy Edsall's Total Team Concept
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Zack Frazer has led his Huskies to a 1-1 record, which includes a blowout loss at Michigan and a blowout win over undermanned Texas Southern University.
After Frazer threw two TDs in the first half last week, Edsall took him out of the game.
Frazer could have racked up some impressive stats against the Tigers.
As it is, he has a 52 percent completion average with 24 balls on the mark out of 46 attempts.
His longest pass was a 47-yarder, and he is averaging 6.7 yards per throw.
With zero sacks, it's safe to assume his offensive line either likes him or is just damn good.
Nationally rated 122.9, Zach is the 75th best QB overall and fourth best in the Big East.
Ryan Nassib, Rated Nation's 77th Best QB, Looks for Answers
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Quarterback Ryan Nassib led the Orange to two scoring drives to open the Washington game, and the defense kept Jake Locker and Co. pinned back against their own goal line.
After that, it was all Washington.
The Orange would not score again until the fourth quarter.
With Maine and Colgate next on the schedule, the Orange should be able to add wins and stat gains for Nassib.
In two games Nassib has completed 55 percent of his passes and directed the Orange offense for 431 yards.
He has thrown three touchdown passes and been sacked three times. His national rating is 122.8. He is the fifth best quarterback in the Big East according to NCAA Individual Statistics.
South Florida's B.J. Daniels Rates No. 6 in League, No. 78 in Nation
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B.J. Daniels and the rest of the South Florida Bulls have to appreciate the way the athletic office goes after the best competition in Florida.
What better exposure for the young program and the Big East than the Bulls traveling to Gainesville on the second Saturday of the 2010 season, knowing that Miami lurks on November 27?
Daniels was forced to rely on the running game last week against Florida.
In two games this season Daniels has thrown for 348 yards. He's completed 48 percent of his passes.
However, a quarterback's ranking is never good when interceptions (4) exceed touchdown passes (3).
Daniels has been sacked once so far this season. His national rating is 121.7, and his national rank is 78th out of 112 quarterbacks. Currently, he is in sixth place in the Big East.
Nationally Ranked No. 89, Louisville's Adam Froman Plans to Improve
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You do the math. Ranked 89th in a group of 112...let's see...Adam Froman ranks in the bottom quartile of major college quarterbacks.
Like the majority of Big East teams, the Cardinals are 1-1, losing to an FBS opponent and beating an FCS one.
Bringing Froman's ranking down is just one TD pass and two interceptions in the early 2010 season.
Absorbing three sacks, he has definitely taken some licks for his team.
Froman has completed just 29 passes in two games for a completion rate of 56 percent.
Just above him in the rankings is Purdue's Robert Marve; just below is Eastern Michigan's Alex Gillett.
With a national rating of 110.3, Froman is the seventh best QB in the eight-team Big East at this time.
The Lowest Nationally Rated Big East QB? Tom Savage, Rutgers, Nation's 92nd Best
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I would have written that Greg Schiano and Dave Wannstedt must have attended the same seminar on developing college quarterbacks.
But Wannstedt's pick for 2010 is ranked No. 2 in the Big East, leaving Schiano in a class all his own.
What is it with the New Jersey whiz kid and QBs? Or in the bigger picture, what is it with Schiano and his listless offenses?
The Rutgers schedule makers gave Savage the perfect opportunity to post some big stats in the early going. With games against Stony Brook (not a vacation resort) and Norfolk State, Rutgers set the stage for some big time offensive numbers.
Perhaps the offensive line should have this abysmal ranking of 92nd out of 112 and not Savage.
They have allowed Savage to be sacked four times in two games.
Savage has only completed 17 passes for a total of 220 yards—remember, the Scarlet Knights played Stony Brook and Norfolk State.
Savage is even—one touchdown pass and one interception.
Rated 108.2 and coming in 92nd out of 112 quarterbacks, Savage's numbers will only get better.
.jpg?w=480 "Ohio State Team Doctor")
