Top Five Quarterbacks to Watch in the Big Ten- 2014

 

Nate Sudfield- Indiana

Sudfield is a junior out of Modesto, California that stands 6’5” and is 228 lbs. During his sophomore season in 2013, he completed 194-of-322 (60.2 percent) for 2,523 yards with 21 touchdowns, nine interceptions and a 142.0 pass efficiency rating and started eight games and appeared in all 12 .He ranked  fourth in TDs and completion percentage, seventh in yardage and ninth in completions on IU’s single-season lists . In the conference, Sudfield ranked third in the Big Ten in yards per completion (13.0) and yards per attempt (7.8), fourth in passing yards per game (210.2) and completions per game (16.2), tied for fourth in passing scores, fifth in pass efficiency, passing yardage, total offense per game (207.4), completion percentage and points responsible for per game (11.2), and sixth in yards per play (6.9)

Christian Hackenberg- Penn State

Back for his sophomore season, Hackenberg left some eye-popping stats from his freshman campaign for pundits to devour. He broke one Penn State overall passing record and 12 school freshman passing records, including the rookie marks for game and season passing completions, attempts, yards and touchdown passes. For the season, he was 231-of-392 for 2,955 yards, with 20 touchdowns and 10 interceptions. He had a long completion of 68 yards to Adam Breneman, good for a touchdown in the big win at No. 14 Wisconsin. Hackenberg also ran for four touchdowns and accumulated 2,887 yards of total offense, an average of 240.6 ypg. Hackenberg’s tremendous season was recognized nationally, as he garnered first-team True Freshman All-America accolades from 247Sports.com. He was selected a second-team Freshman All-American by Athlon Sports, Phil Steele’s College Football and CollegeFootballNews.com, with Heisman Trophy-winner Jameis Winston claiming the first-team nod. Hackenberg earned Big Ten Freshman-of-the-Week five times during the season, the second-highest total since the honor began in 2010. He also was named the Athlon Sports National Freshman-of-the-Week twice, following the wins over Michigan and at Wisconsin. Hackenberg finished third overall on the Penn State season passing yardage chart (2,955) and fourth on the season completions list (231).

Connor Cook- Michigan State

In 2013, Cook posted a 12-1 record as the starting quarterback  and was named second-team All-Big Ten by the coaches along with honorable mention All-Big Ten selection by the media He also garnered All-Big Ten accolades from ESPN.com (second team) and Athlon Sports (second team) and was an Academic All-Big Ten selection. He completed 59 percent of his passes (223-of-380) for 2,755 yards, 22 touchdowns and six interceptions and ranked among MSU’s single-season leaders in touchdown passes (tied for second with 22), total offense (fourth with 2,831 yards), pass attempts (fourth with 380), passing yards (fifth with 2,755), pass completions (tied for sixth with 223) and passing yards per game (14th with 196.8 ypg.) In conference, Cook ranked among the Big Ten leaders in touchdown passes (tied for second with 22), pass completions (third with 223), passing yards (fourth with 2,755), passing (fifth with 196.8 ypg.), total offense (sixth with 202.2 ypg.) and passing efficiency (eighth with 135.5 rating) and tied for the fewest interceptions (6) among starting Big Ten quarterbacks.

Wes Lunt- Illinois

Lunt is a sophomore from Rochester, Illinois that sat out the 2013 campaign after transferring from Oklahoma State. His 2012 season for the Cowboys say him make five starts for the Cowboys as a true-freshman, the first three games of the season and two in the middle of the season, before injuries ended both streaks. He was the first true-freshman QB to start a season-opener at OSU since at least 1950, completing 11-of-11 passes for 123 yards in less than a quarter of play in an 84-0 win over Savannah State. Lunt followed with a 436-yard, four-TD performance at Arizona in his first road start and on the season, completed 81-of-131 passes (61.8 percent) for 1,108 yards, six touchdowns and seven interceptions in six games.

Devin Gardner- Michigan

The Wolverines website has the Detroit native at 6’4” and 216 lbs which is a big quarterback. He is currently a graduate student at Michigan. Gardner is a three-year letterman that has appeared in 37 contests at quarterback and wide receiver, making 21 starts, including 16 at quarterback and has accounted for at least two touchdowns in 14 of his last 17 games .In 2013, he completed 208-of-345 passes for 2,960 yards and 21 touchdowns and carried the ball 165 times for 483 yards and 11 touchdowns.