Ohio Football Topic
Topic: QB article in the Post
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Deciduous Forest Cat
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Posted: 3/17/2015 3:18 PM
As linked on the home page...
http://www.thepostathens.com/sports/quarterback-competiti...

#1 - not a single mention of Duckworth. Will he not be a factor at all? Injured? new position? lazy reporting?

#2 - The article starts with... "Although the nation may be aware of the quarterback battle underway in Columbus, the lesser-known yearlong competition in Athens persists..."

WTF? Is that necessary? is it relevant? (No, and no). I hope this is a freshman reporter and he will learn from a severe flogging for this stupid opening.
JSF
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Posted: 3/17/2015 3:39 PM
Terrible lede.
L.C.
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Posted: 3/17/2015 7:15 PM
I also had some doubts about this line:
Andy Kovar wrote:expand_more
Although the win wasn’t enough to put the Bobcats into a bowl game, it secured their sixth consecutive winning season.

Sixth consecutive bowl eligible season yes, winning, no.

Deciduous Forest Cat wrote:expand_more
#1 - not a single mention of Duckworth....

There is also no mention of Windham, who was coming on last fall, and trying to make it a 3 QB battle. Windham looked particularly good against BG last year where he was 7 of 8 for 61 yards in a late drive. A year ago Windham was far behind Sprague because of his year off away from the program, but he played well when called on last fall, I thought, and by the end of the Spring, I can easily imagine him ahead of Sprague.

QB Efficiencies last year:
Vick 130.9
Windham 129.9
Sprauge 99.9

Completion Percentages:
Windham 76.9%
Vick 58.8%
Sprague 48.5%
OhioBobcat
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Posted: 3/17/2015 10:26 PM
Vick will be the #1 QB. I'm not buying in to what the coaches are saying about there being a battle for the top spot. It's just coach speak.
Monroe Slavin
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Posted: 3/17/2015 11:29 PM
dcf--a being who needs to work on his obnoxious, knowitall arrogance.
Victory
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Posted: 3/18/2015 10:55 AM
OhioBobcat wrote:expand_more
Vick will be the #1 QB. I'm not buying in to what the coaches are saying about there being a battle for the top spot. It's just coach speak.
Agree
Rufus25
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Posted: 3/18/2015 4:12 PM
Victory wrote:expand_more
Vick will be the #1 QB. I'm not buying in to what the coaches are saying about there being a battle for the top spot. It's just coach speak.
Agree
I would venture to say that Vick knows that as long as he is healthy, he is #1. How can you improve the position unless there is a true competition?

"No Pressure, No Diamonds"
SBH
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Posted: 3/18/2015 5:41 PM
An even more embarrassing piece in the same issue of The Post is the interview with MAC Commissioner Jon Steinbrecher. The questions are absolutely inane, including: "The Bobcats just re-signed Bob Boldon until 2020. Do you think there’s going to be exciting times for Ohio?" Do we have junior high students working on this paper?
L.C.
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Posted: 3/18/2015 7:16 PM
Rufus25 wrote:expand_more
I would venture to say that Vick knows that as long as he is healthy, he is #1. How can you improve the position unless there is a true competition?

"No Pressure, No Diamonds"

I agree completely that it's important to press the starter, but it's also important to develop a backup, or backups behind him. One reason is that, as we unfortunately saw last year, sometimes the starter gets injured. The other reason is that a new starter will be needed in 2016, and it's best for some of the backups to have some experience.

I don't think any of us doubts that Vick is the starter, and I think we all have an idea of what Sprague is capable of. What we, on the outside looking in, don't know much about is the others at the position, Windham and Duckworth. Are they far back of Sprague? Or, are they pushing him for the backup job?
JSF
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Posted: 3/18/2015 9:32 PM
SBH wrote:expand_more
An even more embarrassing piece in the same issue of The Post is the interview with MAC Commissioner Jon Steinbrecher. The questions are absolutely inane, including: "The Bobcats just re-signed Bob Boldon until 2020. Do you think there’s going to be exciting times for Ohio?" Do we have junior high students working on this paper?
To be fair, I don't think there's any question you could ask that would get an interesting response from Stein.
Bobcatbob
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Posted: 3/19/2015 11:30 AM
With all due respect to everyone involved on the field and on this board, if you say Vick is "clearly" the starter, I think you and I were watching a different team last year. I saw "D" and "JD" both shine and both struggle. It just wasn't on the same day most of the time, thankfully.

I would certainly like to see more than a token battle for that job take place. Let the best man win.
Last Edited: 3/19/2015 11:30:32 AM by Bobcatbob
Paul Graham
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Posted: 3/20/2015 12:22 AM
I just want to take this opportunity to remind everyone that I think our QB situation is still a complete disaster. And the comparison in this article to OSU only served to remind me how low-rent we actually are.
Bcat2
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Posted: 3/20/2015 6:57 AM
Paul Graham wrote:expand_more
I just want to take this opportunity to remind everyone that I think our QB situation is still a complete disaster.
Same kind of thinking you had before the Independence Bowl? Should we prepare for further "...depression of watching us try and play football?"
Monroe Slavin
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Posted: 3/20/2015 10:26 AM
Really? We haven't beaten a MAC team with a winning record in forever. The MAC is probably the worst conference in the nation and we're in its worst division.

But you think things are just perfect. You're more happy confident than if Athletics was paying you to promote the program.

What would it take for you to express even the merest trace of acknowledgement that things may not be perfect?

I understand hope.

Do you have a clue at all about reality?
Paul Graham
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Posted: 3/20/2015 12:45 PM
Bcat2 wrote:expand_more
I just want to take this opportunity to remind everyone that I think our QB situation is still a complete disaster.
Same kind of thinking you had before the Independence Bowl? Should we prepare for further "...depression of watching us try and play football?"
Same kind of thinking I had before/during/after last season...and was proven right.

We have lots of things to be excited about on this team. A talented group of freshman...the best group of linebackers in the MAC...a shutdown corner...a great young running back. But QB has been completely bungled by our coaching staff. First, awful awful awful recruiting for years. Next, a failure to get reps for the young QB's, even when your starter is in free-fall. And finally, the ineptitude of not going to find a JUCO or transfer to shore-up the position.
bobcatsquared
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Posted: 3/20/2015 1:09 PM
BCat 2, let me ask you this: If "experts" of MAC football were to rank the league's quarterbacks, where would they put Vick? I have a feeling where you would rate him. But what about unbiased "experts"? Ohio needs an upgrade at the QB position for the Cats to improve on a .500, or close to .500, record. Therefore, I would love to see a two-, three-, even four-player competition at the position result in better production.
Last Edited: 3/20/2015 1:11:08 PM by bobcatsquared
Deciduous Forest Cat
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Posted: 3/20/2015 1:47 PM
Monroe Slavin wrote:expand_more
Really? We haven't beaten a MAC team with a winning record in forever. The MAC is probably the worst conference in the nation and we're in its worst division.

But you think things are just perfect. You're more happy confident than if Athletics was paying you to promote the program.

What would it take for you to express even the merest trace of acknowledgement that things may not be perfect?

I understand hope.

Do you have a clue at all about reality?
Thanks for your keen insight, Monroe.
L.C.
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Posted: 3/20/2015 1:52 PM
bobcatsquared wrote:expand_more
BCat 2, let me ask you this: If "experts" of MAC football were to rank the league's quarterbacks, where would they put Vick? I have a feeling where you would rate him. But what about unbiased "experts"? Ohio needs an upgrade at the QB position for the Cats to improve on a .500, or close to .500, record. Therefore, I would love to see a two-, three-, even four-player competition at the position result in better production.

I know you addressed this to BCat2, but I'll take a crack at it. Vick was 7th in the league in pass efficiency at 130.9, and probably was one of the leading rushers among QBs. On the whole, he would probably be considered middle of the pack in the MAC, not at the top, but not at the bottom, either. If you look only at his data prior to injury, he was 40-65 for 530 yards with 4 TDs and one interception, which would be a pass efficiency of 147, which would have ranked him 4th in the MAC.

On an Ohio history basis, his 130.9 last year ranks him 8th in Ohio history, behind TT (3x), Bruce Babbit (1x), Boo Jackson (2x), and Cleve, but ahead of Theo. His 147 pace before injury would have placed him in second, behind only TT in 2011. His current career pass efficiency is 130.3, which places him in 3rd, behind TT (141.6) and Boo (136.2).

With everyone back, Vick will have a significantly better offensive line ahead of him this fall, and better TEs and RBs. That will open up the passing game, so I expect his passing numbers to significantly improve this fall. If he stays healthy, I think Vick will be more than good enough, and I'm not concerned. If he gets injured again, that's a different story. Then we'll find out who behind him has improved the most.
OhioCatFan
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Posted: 3/20/2015 2:36 PM
Paul Graham wrote:expand_more
. . . First, awful awful awful [QB] recruiting for years. Next, a failure to get reps for the young QB's, even when your starter is in free-fall. And finally, the ineptitude of not going to find a JUCO or transfer to shore-up the position.
Hey, Monroe, is this enough negativity for you? Does he seems satisfied that everything is perfect in Bobcat football land? Note, though, that he balances this with a few positive things that I've left out so you'd be happy seeing a more negative post and acknowledgement of trouble in River City.
Paul Graham
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Posted: 3/20/2015 4:50 PM
L.C. wrote:expand_more
...On an Ohio history basis...
It doesn't make sense to place his 2014 season in historical context, given that he played only about 1/2 of it. ESPN won't even show him in some statistical categories because he doesn't meet the threshold of # of attempts.

I think it's safe to place our QB play in the bottom half of the MAC. (That is, when you combine Sprague and Vicks' play). And let us not forget that 2014 was a very bad year for the MAC and particularly the MAC East.
L.C.
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Posted: 3/20/2015 5:12 PM
Paul Graham wrote:expand_more
It doesn't make sense to place his 2014 season in historical context, given that he played only about 1/2 of it. ESPN won't even show him in some statistical categories because he doesn't meet the threshold of # of attempts.

I think it's safe to place our QB play in the bottom half of the MAC. (That is, when you combine Sprague and Vicks' play). And let us not forget that 2014 was a very bad year for the MAC and particularly the MAC East.

FWIW, Windham's stats would have placed him in 8th, one notch behind Vick in the MAC standings, but Sprague's efficiency computes at only 99.9, which was lower than the last place MAC team, Akron, which had a 104.9 efficiency. Combining all the QBs, Ohio finished in 10th in the MAC in efficiency at 114.2, which as you expected, Paul, is well into the last half of the MAC.

I stand by my statement - If Vick stays healthy, Ohio's QB play will be fine. If not, well, then we better hope that the backups have improved.
Bcat2
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Posted: 3/20/2015 7:20 PM
L.C. wrote:expand_more
BCat 2, let me ask you this: If "experts" of MAC football were to rank the league's quarterbacks, where would they put Vick? I have a feeling where you would rate him. But what about unbiased "experts"? Ohio needs an upgrade at the QB position for the Cats to improve on a .500, or close to .500, record. Therefore, I would love to see a two-, three-, even four-player competition at the position result in better production.

I know you addressed this to BCat2, but I'll take a crack at it. Vick was 7th in the league in pass efficiency at 130.9, and probably was one of the leading rushers among QBs. On the whole, he would probably be considered middle of the pack in the MAC, not at the top, but not at the bottom, either. If you look only at his data prior to injury, he was 40-65 for 530 yards with 4 TDs and one interception, which would be a pass efficiency of 147, which would have ranked him 4th in the MAC.

On an Ohio history basis, his 130.9 last year ranks him 8th in Ohio history, behind TT (3x), Bruce Babbit (1x), Boo Jackson (2x), and Cleve, but ahead of Theo. His 147 pace before injury would have placed him in second, behind only TT in 2011. His current career pass efficiency is 130.3, which places him in 3rd, behind TT (141.6) and Boo (136.2).

With everyone back, Vick will have a significantly better offensive line ahead of him this fall, and better TEs and RBs. That will open up the passing game, so I expect his passing numbers to significantly improve this fall. If he stays healthy, I think Vick will be more than good enough, and I'm not concerned. If he gets injured again, that's a different story. Then we'll find out who behind him has improved the most.
Thanks L.C.. That about sums it up. Well presented.
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