Sullivan would have really helped us if he started the entire season!

loyolacat

Redshirt
Oct 21, 2006
2,686
41
48
I agree with this...I think we made the wrong decision. Nothing against Helinski but Sullivan is quicker in the pocket..has the ability to make the D respect the option....looks decisive on his reads....threw a great deep ball to Kurtz.....I just think Fitz is too nice and too loyal .....and also too hesitant to roll the dice....
 

Williesfan

Freshman
Sep 24, 2009
2,744
54
0
I think Evan Hull is healthy however defenses are keying on him. I noticed that starting with Duke.

another quarterback is not going to make a diffference. You still have an inept OC and HC at the helm.

you see the quit in this team. It is easy to be injured when not performing. If you are competitive you find a way to play through it.
 

No Chores

Sophomore
Jul 2, 2006
6,463
175
63
I agree with this...I think we made the wrong decision. Nothing against Helinski but Sullivan is quicker in the pocket..has the ability to make the D respect the option....looks decisive on his reads....threw a great deep ball to Kurtz.....I just think Fitz is too nice and too loyal .....and also too hesitant to roll the dice....
Bryce Kirtz made the 2 most athletic and difficult receptions of the day for either team, good for 66 yards. Contrary to the opinion of some, he is an excellent receiver when we play a quarterback who can bet the ball to him and who also poses a threat to run. RH is not the answer.
 

peatymeanis

Redshirt
Jan 6, 2005
921
0
0
Remember how Andrew Marty looked like the answer when he came in against Duke? Same situation here. Give a team some time to prep against Sullivan and he’ll revert to looking bad. Because Fitz is incapable of recruiting, developing, or scheming a quarterback
 

No Chores

Sophomore
Jul 2, 2006
6,463
175
63
Remember how Andrew Marty looked like the answer when he came in against Duke? Same situation here. Give a team some time to prep against Sullivan and he’ll revert to looking bad. Because Fitz is incapable of recruiting, developing, or scheming a quarterback
So, who do you believe should be starting now? My choice would be Sully.
 

JT2311

Redshirt
Nov 29, 2019
453
15
0
Allowed Mertz to be the best QB in the country yesterday while having one of the worst and the worst.

Impressive stuff
 

NUChicago

Sophomore
Aug 23, 2001
3,613
181
63
Allowed Mertz to be the best QB in the country yesterday while having one of the worst and the worst.

Impressive stuff
Come on, stats are for losers. I will never forget that dumb *** comment....

But really, show that to JON and say how are you getting better? I hate to say it but Bert (on BTN) said he won't keep anyone on staff or in the program that does not make it better.
 

Titanium999

Redshirt
Jan 16, 2014
4,573
0
0
Bryce Kirtz made the 2 most athletic and difficult receptions of the day for either team, good for 66 yards. Contrary to the opinion of some, he is an excellent receiver when we play a quarterback who can bet the ball to him and who also poses a threat to run. RH is not the answer.
Exactly No Chores! I’ve been preaching to the “ No” Choir about this all season! Sullivan is the future! We can win 🥇 the BT with him at QB!
 

DarthCat

Sophomore
Jun 5, 2001
3,349
126
63
Come on, stats are for losers. I will never forget that dumb *** comment....

But really, show that to JON and say how are you getting better? I hate to say it but Bert (on BTN) said he won't keep anyone on staff or in the program that does not make it better.
For a supposedly smart fan base, I am amazed people fail to understand what that quote meant. It is not that you’re a loser if you look at stats. It’s that if you’re winning, the stats don’t matter. The W is all that does. Think of the context in which Fitz said it too. We were winning. When you’re losing, you dig through stats to figure out how and why and where to change things. Therefore “stats are for losers.” Losing TEAMS, not loser people.
 

jensberg

Redshirt
Jul 28, 2006
2,725
27
48
Exactly No Chores! I’ve been preaching to the “ No” Choir about this all season! Sullivan is the future! We can win 🥇 the BT with him at QB!
Did you look at the chart above? Sully is the lowest there is including worse than Hilinsky.
 

Fanaticat98

Sophomore
May 29, 2001
8,524
174
63
For a supposedly smart fan base, I am amazed people fail to understand what that quote meant. It is not that you’re a loser if you look at stats. It’s that if you’re winning, the stats don’t matter. The W is all that does. Think of the context in which Fitz said it too. We were winning. When you’re losing, you dig through stats to figure out how and why and where to change things. Therefore “stats are for losers.” Losing TEAMS, not loser people.
If you’re winning, the stats don’t matter WHILE you’re winning but there can be worrisome patterns for the future. Such as our offensive statistics being consistently poor even in winning seasons. That predicted 2 things. One, that as soon as our D was no longer top 10-25, we would lose almost all our games because we can’t score. Two, the long term trend of anemic offensive stats may partially explain why we couldn’t recruit/retain better offensive skill position athletes for several years now, despite winning a lot of bowl games and division titles.
 
Aug 31, 2003
14,657
195
63
Remember: to Wrassler, being mobile is the ONLY important attribute for a QB. This is the guy who wouldn't stop clamoring for Alviti to be the starter.
 

corbi2961

Senior
Sep 9, 2005
30,524
785
0
I think Evan Hull is healthy however defenses are keying on him. I noticed that starting with Duke.

another quarterback is not going to make a diffference. You still have an inept OC and HC at the helm.

you see the quit in this team. It is easy to be injured when not performing. If you are competitive you find a way to play through it.
Completely agree with your first sentence but also completely disagree with your second sentence. The reason defenses can completely focus on Hull and Porter is that our QB to this point has not been viewed as any threat whatsoever to run the ball. When you have a zone read running scheme and your QB is not a threat to keep the ball and run it, the defenders don't hesitate at all when the ball is at the mesh point. The DEs, LBs are all crashing down towards the inside handoff to the running back and not hesitating for one second. With Sullivan in the game they will hesitate or they will get gashed by Sullivan keeping the ball and running it outside. Once they see that happening and adjust their pursuit, that hesitation will create creases for our RBs that have not been there with Hilinski under center. That's how a a QB can make a ton of difference just with his running ability even before we debate who is the more capable passer.
 
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corbi2961

Senior
Sep 9, 2005
30,524
785
0
Bryce Kirtz made the 2 most athletic and difficult receptions of the day for either team, good for 66 yards. Contrary to the opinion of some, he is an excellent receiver when we play a quarterback who can bet the ball to him and who also poses a threat to run. RH is not the answer.
Unfortunately it appears the coaches once again made the wrong choice at QB. Sullivan will have his struggles but his physical abilities complement the rest of the offensive talent much better than Hilinski. Not to mention he is the younger player with more upside potential and at this point the rest of the season should be focused on talent development for next year.
 
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PurpleWhiteBoy

Redshirt
Feb 25, 2021
5,303
0
0

Thats an interesting plot.
Here are the two QBs numbers...

PlayerCompAttYdsYds/PTDIntRunsR YdsFumQBR
Hilinski10221476.70213051.2
Sullivan11171146.7101033118.5
Richardson1221.00000017.8

It made me look up ESPN's QBR calculation. Because it seemed stupid at face value. 50 is considered average. (Okay, sure, Hilinski was "average")

Anyhow, ESPN doesn't really use a formula and it makes adjustments for their perception of the quality of the opposing defense AND the relative score when each QB is playing, making assumptions about blowouts and garbage time, using the game situation for each play to credit or discredit the QB. They also (supposedly) allocate relative responsibility for the successful plays and unsuccessful plays (great catch, drop, great run after catch, etc).

Obviously, ESPN's approach is flawed, because Sullivan was not worse than Hilinski - any human being who saw the game knows that. And any reasonable interpretation of the statistics confirms that. Unless you ignore turnovers, TDs and rushing yards.
 

Hungry Jack

All-Conference
Nov 17, 2008
36,243
1,777
67
Allowed Mertz to be the best QB in the country yesterday

Impressive stuff
Did you see what the Bears did in the first half for Kirk Cousins?

If we can't have great quarterbacks in Chicago, we can at least make opposing QBs look great.
 

StreamCat

Sophomore
May 29, 2001
11,781
132
0
Completely agree with your first sentence but also completely disagree with your second sentence
You disagree that Williesfan noticed it starting with Duke? No, I believe you disagree with the third sentence. Sentence counting is a noble art going back centuries. Please, treat it with the respect it deserves. 🤪
If you wish to call me some well-deserved names, Corbi, have at it.
 

corbi2961

Senior
Sep 9, 2005
30,524
785
0
You disagree that Williesfan noticed it starting with Duke? No, I believe you disagree with the third sentence. Sentence counting is a noble art going back centuries. Please, treat it with the respect it deserves. 🤪
If you wish to call me some well-deserved names, Corbi, have at it.
You are right, thanks for correcting me.
 

stpaulcat

Senior
May 29, 2001
34,880
546
113
Completely agree with your first sentence but also completely disagree with your second sentence. The reason defenses can completely focus on Hull and Porter is that our QB to this point has not been viewed as any threat whatsoever to run the ball. When you have a zone read running scheme and your QB is not a threat to keep the ball and run it, the defenders don't hesitate at all when the ball is at the mesh point. The DEs, LBs are all crashing down towards the inside handoff to the running back and not hesitating for one second. With Sullivan in the game they will hesitate or they will get gashed by Sullivan keeping the ball and running it outside. Once they see that happening and adjust their pursuit, that hesitation will create creases for our RBs that have not been there with Hilinski under center. That's how a a QB can make a ton of difference just with his running ability even before we debate who is the more capable passer.
Great explanation of why a dual threat QB is important in our offense. But you didn't answer to the second part of his second sentence--would be interesting to hear your perspective. What's the mesh point--where the QB and RB come together?
 

corbi2961

Senior
Sep 9, 2005
30,524
785
0
Great explanation of why a dual threat QB is important in our offense. But you didn't answer to the second part of his second sentence--would be interesting to hear your perspective. What's the mesh point--where the QB and RB come together?
The mesh point is the point at which the QB decides to hand the ball off to the RB or pull it to make a play his feet or arm. The weakside DE has to read that play and decide to crash down and provide back side pursuit of the RB or hold his ground to contain the QB. With Hilinski, those backside defenders are crashing down constantly because they don’t respect/fear the threat of the QB keeping the ball. That will change with Sullivan and will open up the running game for all the RBs.
 

stpaulcat

Senior
May 29, 2001
34,880
546
113
The mesh point is the point at which the QB decides to hand the ball off to the RB or pull it to make a play his feet or arm. The weakside DE has to read that play and decide to crash down and provide back side pursuit of the RB or hold his ground to contain the QB. With Hilinski, those backside defenders are crashing down constantly because they don’t respect/fear the threat of the QB keeping the ball. That will change with Sullivan and will open up the running game for all the RBs.
Apparently Hilinski didn't lose enough weight, and can't move as quickly as the coaches thought he might.
 

AdamOnFirst

Junior
Nov 29, 2021
8,372
224
63
Bryce Kirtz made the 2 most athletic and difficult receptions of the day for either team, good for 66 yards. Contrary to the opinion of some, he is an excellent receiver when we play a quarterback who can bet the ball to him and who also poses a threat to run. RH is not the answer.
Those were definitely very impressive catches, showed great ball skills. One of the only optimism creating moments from yesterday. It would be great if anybody like Kirtz could demonstrate they’re a Big Ten caliber starter if utilized correctly.