Fiesta Bowl Preview: Quarterbacks

Boise State Quarterbacks Coach Rico Dynamite.

Slogging through another one of these underreported and under-investigated previews, today we’ll take a look at the position by which both teams will be judged heading into this game: Quarterback. Now, Boise QB Kellen Moore may be classified as a mouth breathing tard face by many of his detractors, and you might be right, but the hidden truth is I kind of like the kid. Sure, he does bear a striking resemblance to Napolean Dynamite – also from Idaho – which makes me want to trot out all sorts of comparisons to Uncle Rico’s football career - something that can you for sure expect come post-Fiesta Bowl- but I’m not going to attack him just for the sake of it. At least not before touching down in Phoenix, that is. He is what he is though – a perfect prototype for Chris Peterson’s offense who is extremely accurate and doesn’t run his mouth like some of his teammates. This also probably explains why he hasn’t had his face rearranged by a feathery running back from the west coast, and that can only mean good things for the Boise program. He obviously doesn’t play for one of the power conferences, and I’m as quick as any to knock the WAC and what it does/doesn’t stand for, but if the Heisman hadn’t devolved into the “best player on the #1 team in the country” award, there’s no way this kid isn’t a finalist this year. Oh shit, sorry for that guys… I mean, HATE HATE HATE!!

All of that being said about Moore, there’s no denying my unabashed man-love for Andy Dalton. For those of you who regularly read our site, you’ll probably have caught on that one four lights my football pants on fire like no one has since Matt Jones at Arkansas in my pre-Frog days. What was once merely a way for me to be hard-headed against those who doubted him has now become the norm for most Frog fans. I say most because there are still some of those out there who don’t like the kid which baffles me to no end. In all fairness, I can say I slightly identify with you because it’s the same way I feel about Tony Romo or JJ Barea – they’ve both been undeniably terrible in the past and in no way deserve the success they have and it absolutely drives a knife into my soul whenever they are successful, although I will say I’m coming around on the midget. Still though, that's by no means an accurate comparison simply because, would anyone have ever considered Dalton to be "terrible?"

Which brings me back to the original point - how can you not like Andy Dalton!??! Perhaps it’s because we share a name or perhaps it’s because he’s carrying the torch for a dying breed – Gingers – and I have a soft, liberal heart somewhere below the surface. Honestly though? It’s just because he’s damned good at football. . The fact that our offense is increasingly run oriented, yet AD is going to become to greatest QB in TCU history should be proof enough, but look at the numbers. 2007 - 10TDs, 11 INTs; 2008 – 11TDs, 5INTs; 2009 – 22TDs, 5 INTs. Has anyone on our team improved the way he has throughout his career? He’s also improved these numbers despite dropping his pass attempts by 92 in two seasons. Also, how many times it the QB of a top 5 football team not a complete dickhead? I don’t personally know him, but from all accounts he’s a pretty solid guy. He also doesn’t bang his male roommate – a situation that can’t be overlooked when you’re evaluating QBs from the state of Texas. I’m fine with him not being in the Heisman talk this season – he simply didn’t have the numbers – but having been overlooked for the Davey O’Brien award which is named after an athlete from his school as well as awarded in his own city which has developed a T shirt fan base like no other is unacceptable. It should make Frog fans sick and, for that matter, should make football fans in general sick who have any ounce of knowledge about the game. Still, if flying under the radar gets us these kinds of results, then, unlike Michael Irvin, I’ll take the championships everytime.

Alright though – you probably are far more interested in how these two guys match up head to head as opposed to my borderline dangerous praise of them. Let’s stack them up side by side.

Kellen Moore – SO, 6-0, 187. 1^st Team All-WAC.

254/392, 3325 yards, 64.8 completion %, 8.48 Yards per attempt, 39 TDs, 3 INTs, 5 sacks.

Andy Dalton – JR, 6-3, 215.

174/279, 2484 yards, 62.4% completion %, 8.9 Yard per attempt, 22 TDs, 5 INTs, 10 sacks.

Alright, so doing this arbitrarily by the numbers, which I must do because that’s the way I’ve done the rest of these and plan on doing them all, Moore is leaps and bounds a more prolific passer than Dalton. However, it’s not that easy, mostly because of one factor – Moore has thrown 113 more passes than Andy. The offenses are simply impossible to compare because of the way the passing game is treated – for them it’s the norm; for us it’s a way to bust open the occasional big play once the defenses minds are numbed from being gashed by the run and also to pick up quick, short gains. Moore also had an extra home game to build on his totals – against a TERRIBLE New Mexico State team where he added nearly 300 yards and a TD – which can’t be discounted.

Dalton threw a TD once in every 7.91 passes attempted while Moore came in slightly higher at once every 6.51. Since you can’t throw half a pass, you can safely round both numbers up and say that Moore only beats Dalton by one completion per TD. That’s a number I wouldn’t have thought would be so close considering how many TDs we scored in short yardage situations on the goal line and really sticks out to me. The fact is, while Moore may put up bigger numbers and throw fewer interceptions – he has Dalton greatly there in the numbers per attempt department – Dalton really isn’t that far behind.

Also consider that Dalton, despite his whiteness, is probably the most underrated mobile QB in the country. Would anyone outside of our fanbase think that the second leading rusher by attempts on our team would be… Andy Dalton with 107? Or that he’s fourth on the team with 522 yards rushing? By comparison, Kellen Moore has 23 carries on the season for -4 yards. Now, I’m not using this as some kind of end all comparison that Dalton is better because he can do two different things from the position; I just want to demonstrate how different the two are and how it’s hard to make a collective judgment on who is better.

Unfortunately though, making said collective decision is the burden I’ve chosen to bear so here it goes. Despite the competitive advantage he has faced in playing against WAC defenses – and, just to be even handed, I’m not suggesting bottom dwelling MWC defenses are any better, just that as a whole, TCU played better defenses – Moore has put up some serious, serious numbers, including three games with 5 TD passes. The overall numbers are really a lot closer than you think, with TCU having the 4^th ranked total yardage offense in the country vs Boise at 8, but Boise took the edge with the 3^rd ranked scoring offense versus our 5^th. The passing game, though, is where I have to end my judgment, and Boise beats us coming in at 32^nd to our 78^th. It hurts me to do it, and there are certain factors – such as Moore losing his blind side tackle to injury as well as his second favorite receiver, Austin Pettis – that lead me to believe that Dalton has a good chance of outshining his counterpart come gameday, but for the time being based on the numbers, I’ll be charitable. Enjoy it while you can, Broncos.

Edge – Blouses.