Behind the Steel Curtain
College football was back in full force last weekend, and with it came our first chance to witness these quarterbacks we’ve been studying all summer. Now, as promised, I will begin giving weekly updates on how each of them is performing this season.
Since we’re observing a large pool of quarterbacks and staying open to the idea that additional prospects might emerge this year, I will be doing all of us a favor and splitting this into multiple articles.
I appreciate you going on this maiden voyage with me. Each week, we will speculate whose stock is rising and whose is falling. Whether you watch college football religiously or not, these articles will essentially act as a journal of the process for us. If you’re watching a lot of the games yourself, it’ll be a good reminder of how our thoughts on a prospect might evolve from September to April, and hopefully help us improve our process over time. If you’re too busy to catch the games — which is understandable — these articles can keep you in the loop at a fraction of the time, or will be there for you in April when you want to look back at how people reacted to these quarterbacks in real time.
In this first entry, we’ll look at our five finalists from our Quarterback Dating Game series. Then, in an article coming out Saturday morning, we will take a look at several of my other favorites from our summer series, including three who made strong first cases for entering the Round 1 discussion.
With that in mind, we might as well address the loudest elephant in the room…
The result: Texas 7 – Ohio State 14
The stats: 17-30 (56.7%), 170 yards, 1 TD, 1 INT, 9.8 ADoT, 4 big time throws, 2 turnover-worthy plays, 1 sack
9 rushes, 39 yards, 4.3 YPC
There’s no sugarcoating it; the runner-up in our final fan vote did not make a good impression in his first game as the Longhorns’ leader.
For much of the day, the Texas offense didn’t seem in rhythm. As the game wore on, the pressure only mounted for Texas. A packed house of ravenous Ohio State fans had The Horseshoe rocking, and they only grew louder and louder with each passing minute of a dominant performance from the Buckeyes’ defense.
Manning’s footwork was not sound, which led to him attempting several throws from arm angles that diminished his accuracy. All day, he struggled with sailing passes and/or throwing behind his receiver. The further the game went on, Manning also seemed to grow uncomfortable in the pocket, and he seemed like a young passer who was pressing.
To the Buckeyes’ credit, they had sound coverage for most of the day. In man, they were stuck to the Texas receivers’ hips. In zone, they took away the deep ball and dared the young signal caller to take the checkdowns underneath. Sometimes Manning did, and the Ohio State defensive...
