After JoePa's press conference today, it is clear that McGloin will be the starter going into this weekend's game against the Buckeyes. There has been much excitement surrounding this former walk-on, and he finally gets his first real test of the season in "The Shoe" in Columbus. I know that a lot of people have been jumping on his bandwagon, following this three game winning streak, but I'm here to tell all of you that he is not the solution at the Quarterback position on this team for the future. Again, he may be hot now and his stats don't lie, but they do not tell the whole truth either.
It's amazing how winning can blind people and confuse them about the true identity of their team (this is why some LSU fans still think Les Miles is an awesome coach) , this is why we have coaches in this sport. Eventually, the coaches will make the decision to bring Bolden back, the only way McGloin keeps his job is if he continues to stay hot (which he wont). However, out of all the problems that we had in the early season, the QB position was not one of them. The offensive line was broken, had a tough time getting any push against any of our early season opponents, and that includes Kent State and YSU. The receivers were dropping passes left and right all over the field. The running backs were playing with no drive, lacked any emotion, and none of them were running anywhere close to the level they are running the ball now. If that was not bad enough, the coaches were making questionable calls, people were calling for Joe to Go, and over 13 of our regulars were on the injury report. Funny how a 3 game win streak makes everyone forget.
So what changed? What has brought on this late season success and sparked this offense to life? A few things, and I'm going to introduce you to them in the order that they occurred. The first is the level of competition that we have been facing the past few games. The last three teams that we have faced, have been allowing an average of 256.67 (Michigan allowing 290 passing yards per game, NW 250, Minnesota 230, etc.) yards per game in the air, while the first 6 opponents we faced were allowing a mere 196.33 passing yards per game. Another factor is that the last three opponents we faced were averaging under 2 sacks per game, while every other opponent we've faced has been averaging just over four sacks per game. You have to take these things into account, how much pressure did each quarterback face, what were the secondaries like, how much run support did they get from our running backs?
If you do not agree with the above paragraph, let me give you a concrete example. Both Quarterbacks faced the Minnesota defense, I'm just going to go ahead and list their statistics below, and you make the comparison yourself.
McGloin, 6/13 76 yards, 2 TDs 1 Int, played for 40 minutes
Bolden, 11/13 130, 1 TD, played for 20 minutes
On to the next point, the surrounding cast has stepped up their game since the loss to Illinois. I do not know if that game lit a fire up under their behinds or what, but it has been an amazing turnaround from the sulking and complaining from the early season games. Royster has run for 346 yards in the last three games, while barely averaging 50 yards a game through the first six games. The receivers have gone from dropping 7 passes a game, to only dropping just a littler over 1 pass a game. All the credit for this improvement has gone to a renewed mental state and a lot of credit should go to the improved play of the offensive line. Their attitude has changed and charged this offense up. They are opening holes for whoever is running the ball, getting to the second level on screen plays, and giving the QB an extra second or two to let the routes develop downfield (not to mention the defense has to account for the run game and they're not just focusing on the passing game like they were earlier in the season). If these factors were consistent all year, the results would've been consistent in the other games as well. Not saying we would've won the earlier games, but the contests would have been much closer with the outcomes.
The final factor has been the game-plan in all of these contests. The coaching staff knew that they would have to open up the playbook and let the Quarterbacks pass the ball if they were going to have a chance to compete with Minnesota's, Michigan's, and NW's spread attacks.They knew that if they were going to have any chance to compete, that they would have to take more chances and risks down the field. The other teams we played earlier in the season, were much more dominant teams, and played a more physical style; hence, the coaching staff game-planned for a ball control, slower developing offensive scheme. That is a technical way of saying that they were trying to keep things simple, limit mistakes, and make the game a close one. If they only exposed the same match-ups that they have been the past few weeks, but then again, remember point number one, the other teams they faced were much more physical (Yes.....Bama, Temple, Iowa, Illinois play a much more physical style than NW, Michigan, and Minnesota).
So you can go ahead and keep the Blue and White Blindfold on and jump on the McGloin bandwagon, or you can open your eyes and see how much Bolden means to this team. Heck, I'm rooting for McGloin because I want to beat Ohio State as much as anybody else, but the truth is that our best option to win, our best option for the future is Bolden at Quarterback. Sure, McGloin has the hot hand right now, let him finish the season out if he continues this hot streak, but if this team wants to reach greatness and win a National Championship they are going to need much more than "leadership" in the huddle. Let's see what he can do against this Ohio State defense and we'll move forward from there.
WE ARE...............................
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