Topic: How our QB room ranks in the Sunbelt

[Johnnyherd]

They have us as the 9th best QB group in the Sunbelt.  Man that's about as Un-Marshall as you can get.   We should be in the top 3, every year. 

The best thing they could say about Cam is that he was a high school wide receiver and can make defenders miss when he runs the ball, not exactly the top quality you want to hear about from your starting quarterback.

Im so worried we are going to only have success running the football and only be able to score about 21- 24 points a game. 

I hate that we always start with a cupcake fcs team.  Isiah green and Grant wells both started their seasons looking like future NFL QBs.  They both threw for 400 yards 4-5 touchdowns to 3-4 different receivers, no picks and then we played D1 teams and they throw for 180-220 and throw 2 picks just about every game. 

I just want a smart QB, with a good arm that can read a defense and pass the ball, can we please have that this season?

https://collegefootballnetwork.com/sun-belt-qb-rankings-2023/

[beau42m]

I agree, Johnnyherd. I hate FCS home openers. Most galling was Mike Hamrick's 2019 addition of VMI just to get to seven (7) home games. But I had to weigh in on your comment, even though I am stepping away from Herd football for reasons of a personal interest, as I described in an earlier thread. I'm glad that you recently queried me about my reasons for being so harsh about the program in the forum and it was cathartic for me to state the reasons/rationale for my feelings/actions. Thank you.

[bbcard1]

I don't mind a relatively easy home opener. You get to 1-0 and give everyone a chance to play. Our QB room at this time is unproven. While we have not had any real marquee QBs since Cato (some might argue Leftwich, but Cato was as good as you could hope for as a college QB). We had some pretty marginal ones sandwiched between Leftwich and Cato as well.

Litton and Green had some ability but were headcases. Birdsong and Colombi were effective until injured and posted two huge program wins (Purdue and Notre Dame). Hill showed flashes. Morris, Skinner, and Anderson were low-end passable quarterbacks on bad teams. Graham and Wells just never panned out. My point, other than a stagger down memory lane post-Leftwich, is that our current QB room is not historically bad. We just had a couple of crazy good qbs for the better part of a decade. That doesn't mean I'm not all for another NFL calibre quarterback.

[Johnnyherd]

Disregard

[herdorbust2]

This is the toughest schedule we have had in many years. We could go 8-4 and have a really good team. CUSA 2.0 was never this tough. And the you add in VT, ECU and NC St. brutal!!!! 10-2 would be amazing.

[Johnnyherd]

I agree, Johnnyherd. I hate FCS home openers. Most galling was Mike Hamrick's 2019 addition of VMI just to get to seven (7) home games. But I had to weigh in on your comment, even though I am stepping away from Herd football for reasons of a personal interest, as I described in an earlier thread. I'm glad that you recently queried me about my reasons for being so harsh about the program in the forum and it was cathartic for me to state the reasons/rationale for my feelings/actions. Thank you.

Hey brother I wrote you a personal message

[whf]

I continue to predict the prediction of our QB quality to be far off; way too negative, and way too foreboding.

Winning should be the judging criterion of our quarterback; playing each game as needed to beat the opponent he faces ....game by game; executing the plays the offensive managers give him, taking opportunity of the opponent.  Battles are won one at a time, the war is the totality of its battles. I think we are in good shape for at least 10 of our battles, and the winning of the seasonal war.

[svherd]

We've had one solid QB in 2 decades, guess they missed that piece.

[herd2win]

It was a craY stretch of special QBs...Fodor, Peterson, Gregory, Pennington, Kresser, Leftwich, Payton...we then had a mixed bag of QBs until Doc hit on 2 in a row, the problem there was it just happened to be at the same time with Cato and Froh.

I believe we could do better at QB, it is just not a focus of Huff.  He believes in running the ball and playing great defense.

[herdorbust2]

I continue to predict the prediction of our QB quality to be far off; way too negative, and way too foreboding.

Winning should be the judging criterion of our quarterback; playing each game as needed to beat the opponent he faces ....game by game; executing the plays the offensive managers give him, taking opportunity of the opponent.  Battles are won one at a time, the war is the totality of its battles. I think we are in good shape for at least 10 of our battles, and the winning of the seasonal war.

I agree. Fancher won't be as good as Pennington or Leftwich throwing the ball but they couldn't run like him either. And I think you will see a big jump in his maturity and knowledge of the game this year along with a more stable passing game. With our defense and running game, if Cam can just hit the open man and put pressure on the D with his lgs then we are going to be a handful for anyone on our schedule.

[herdfan129]

I think everyone is underestimating Fancher. The game has changed, having a QB who is capable of running is crucial with the game today.

With our running game and defense, we just need someone to make the smart throws, take care of the football, and move the chains. Take what the defense gives him, if that?s a scramble for 6 yards before sliding then take it.

The last thing we want is to pressure him where he starts trying to force things. Just move the chains, control TOP, and score enough points to win.

[puma]

Fancher was also a freshman that was thrown to the wolves in the middle of the season with a suspect OL and questionable WRs but still managed to salvage a decent season. I don't know what his ceiling is but we definitely didn't see it last season. Maybe Wells, Green, or Litton had more raw talent as freshman but Fancher has more grit than any of them.

[herdloyal]

Bottom Line here is?you?re a Field General or you?re not with the brains to dissect your opponent on the fly or run each and every play period. We became one dimensional more than ever last year and teams game planned for it.

[BigJimslade]

They have us as the 9th best QB group in the Sunbelt.  Man that's about as Un-Marshall as you can get.   We should be in the top 3, every year. 

The best thing they could say about Cam is that he was a high school wide receiver and can make defenders miss when he runs the ball, not exactly the top quality you want to hear about from your starting quarterback.

Im so worried we are going to only have success running the football and only be able to score about 21- 24 points a game. 

I hate that we always start with a cupcake fcs team.  Isiah green and Grant wells both started their seasons looking like future NFL QBs.  They both threw for 400 yards 4-5 touchdowns to 3-4 different receivers, no picks and then we played D1 teams and they throw for 180-220 and throw 2 picks just about every game. 

I just want a smart QB, with a good arm that can read a defense and pass the ball, can we please have that this season?

https://collegefootballnetwork.com/sun-belt-qb-rankings-2023/

Relax bro

[coalherd]

This is the toughest schedule we have had in many years. We could go 8-4 and have a really good team. CUSA 2.0 was never this tough. And the you add in VT, ECU and NC St. brutal!!!! 10-2 would be amazing.

Agree about the schedule, bust.  Was going to respond to beau42's post that Albany is the PERFECT opener given we've got ECU, Tech and NC State quickly following, and two of those are on the ROAD!!  A perfect opener to give a lot of new faces some PT, get acclimated to real game positions, and give Coach Huff and staff a chance to try some new personnel out and make some evaluations and adustments.  This preseason surely should get the HERD well prepared for SBC play, IMO!

[HerdEcon]

There it is in writing.  Exactly where we all thought we are, near the bottom in QB talent.  Even knowing this ahead of time did not make reading the article any easier.

Huff needs to show us something on offense this season.  We are not going to win championships being a one trick pony.  We are going to face good defenses and defenses that sale out to stop the run against us.  We have to be able to throw the ball when it matters.  The best offenses are balanced not just the then number of pass and run plays they call but balanced in their ability to execute both.

[Flat Tire 2]

I wouldn't worry too much about some person writing articles for an internet site. Most of the articles are not well researched and are examples of poor journalism.

Let's see how the season goes before we give up. I mean, how many of these internet sites or writers went on record and made a prediction that we would beat Notre Dame? Take the sites with a grain of salt.

[HerdEcon]

Where Marshall's 2024 FBS opponents ranked nationally in Run Defense last season?  I included Troy for comparison sake even though we don't play Troy in '24.

2. JMU
4. Southern Alabama
5. Marshall
11. NC State
19. ECU
24. Troy
34. App State
39. Coastal Carolina
42.  Va Tech
82. Arkansas State
95. GA State
118. ODU
128. GA Southern


Where they ranked nationally in Passing Yards Allowed...

27. Marshall
36. Troy
41. JMU
53. App State
71.  NC State
74.  GA State
83.  Va Tech
88.  Southern Alabama
90.  Arkansas State
94.  ODU
104.  Ga Southern
125.  Coastal Carolina
129.  ECU

Pass performance may not be a indicator of future success however teams that are bad in one phase of the game do not generally become great in one off season.  In '24 Marshall faces only one team that ranked in the top 50 in passing yards allowed.  We face 6 teams that ranked in the top 50 in rushing defense and 4 in the top 25 nationally.   

Really emphasizes how good Laborn was and how bad our 110 ranked passing game really was.  Our QB situation has to change. 

[Johnnyherd]

Fancher was also a freshman that was thrown to the wolves in the middle of the season with a suspect OL and questionable WRs but still managed to salvage a decent season. I don't know what his ceiling is but we definitely didn't see it last season. Maybe Wells, Green, or Litton had more raw talent as freshman but Fancher has more grit than any of them.

Yeah, I don't blame Francher at all.  We shouldn't be in a position where are 2nd best QB is a green as grass freshman.

How is it that Louisiana's top QB goes down the week before our game the they bring in that number 10, (who I thought was a green QB) and he stands tall against our defense in our stadium and beats us?   He threw first downs and touchdowns.

I think the strategy of recruiting 3-4 QBs the same class was definitely a mistake in hindsight, 2/3's of the QB room cant be trusted to go into a game and throw a pass.  Colombi goes down against Louisiana and we put in our backup, Cam struggles and throws for 69 yards.   They put their back up in he beats our defense and wins the game.

I'll be the first to admit, I'm both using hindsight and speculating but if we had just had a serviceable backup QB (a Graham G or a Froh brother) we probably would have beaten Louisiana and had a shot to beat Coastal. 

I apologize for both crying over spilled milk at QB  and worrying that it's gonna happen again.  I just get the feeling that QB Will determine if we are average, good or great this year.

[herdorbust2]

Why don't we wait and see how Fancher does this year before we give up on him? What do you guys expect out of a freshman that was thrown in the fire in almost the middle of the season? I thought he did very well for a raw freshman. Go back and watch Pennington as a freshman playing against 1AA teams? Go watch Leftwich as a sophomore? Fans were calling for him to be benched. I actually feel pretty good about Fancher this year and I'm sure his game has grown a lot after playing last year and another off season.

[GreenDaddy]

I feel like Fancher started to hit a stride in those last few games of the season last year. Looking at his stats on ESPN, he went around 59%, 700 yards, and 6tds in last 3 games. I'll exclude the bowl game since he was evidently hurt. Those really aren't bad numbers for what was basically a true freshman.

It is reasonable to be cautiously optimistic going into this season with Fancher. I just hope I am not looking at things through my green colored lenses and get gut punched when the season actually starts.

[Green Dog]

One thing for certain, it won't take long this season to know if we have a QB or not.
I have a gut feeling we'll see more of the same from Fancher. Hope I'm wrong.

QB and WR are simply not our strengths anymore. Hasn't been for many years. I don't understand
why we can't find talent in these positions. Seems nearly every team we play, regardless of conference, has a
better WR and QB than we do. I don't get it.

[Johnnyherd]

I feel like Fancher started to hit a stride in those last few games of the season last year. Looking at his stats on ESPN, he went around 59%, 700 yards, and 6tds in last 3 games. I'll exclude the bowl game since he was evidently hurt. Those really aren't bad numbers for what was basically a true freshman.

It is reasonable to be cautiously optimistic going into this season with Fancher. I just hope I am not looking at things through my green colored gl(@/:; and get gut punched when the season actually starts.

Yeah that's decent for sure.  I took a look at T J Mcmahon's last 3 excluding his final game where he only threw 8 passes.  He was 60.5%  760 yards 8tds 2 Ints,  He also was sacked 6 times, Cam was sacked 4. 

So Mcmahon is right there with him.  There is a good chance Cam might get hurt running the ball.  So at least we arent trying to bring out a backup QB that's never thrown a pass in a game.

If you take out Rice's brutal game against USC where they lost 66-14 a TJ threw 3 picks and was sacked over and over.  His numbers arent horrible and he was playing on a bad team. 

TJ has a QRR higher than both Francher and Grant Wells

[MUther]

Bottom Line here is?you?re a Field General or you?re not with the brains to dissect your opponent on the fly or run each and every play period. We became one dimensional more than ever last year and teams game planned for it.

That's some kind of dumb right there.  First off, everyone starts out as a grunt.  Pennington started out as a grunt.  He put the work in and learned the game the hard way.  If people in charge looked at his interceptions in game 1 and wrote him off as you're willing to do with Fancher, we'd have missed out on some pretty damn good years.  We have a dual threat QB with a year under his belt.  We hopefully have the line fixed.  And I hope we have some receivers that can get open AND catch.  Fancher will be better to some degree.  If either of the other two problems are fixed at all then we will have enough passing offense to open up our ability to run and in turn balance the offense. 

I was not a fan of him taking over last year or his mop-up a few games in 2021.  But he's shown he will put in the work, is generally fearless, and has come a long way towards getting there as a D1 QB.  I think he'll be the first improved sophomore QB since Cato.

[GreenDaddy]

Yeah that's decent for sure.  I took a look at T J Mcmahon's last 3 excluding his final game where he only threw 8 p(@/:;.  He was 60.5%  760 yards 8tds 2 Ints,  He also was sacked 6 times, Cam was sacked 4. 

So Mcmahon is right there with him.  There is a good chance Cam might get hurt running the ball.  So at least we arent trying to bring out a backup QB that's never thrown a pass in a game.

If you take out Rice's brutal game against USC where they lost 66-14 a TJ threw 3 picks and was sacked over and over.  His numbers arent horrible and he was playing on a bad team. 

TJ has a QRR higher than both Francher and Grant Wells

The Rice QB and Fancher have very similar skill sets. Smart move by the staff to bring in another QB that can step in and play without having to change the offense around like last season. On film McMahon looks better than Cam, but I'd hate to go with a 1 year fix at that position.
Hopefully Cam can keep the job and continue to grow since we (could) have him for 3 more years.