Who is the greatest quarterback in gopher history?

[IceBoxGopher]

I think from an accomplishment perspective, it would have to be Sandy Stephens. A national title, conference title and Rose Bowls is hard to beat.

In terms of stats, though, and what we want out of a quarterback, I'd say it has to be Morgan. His stats do a lot of the talking and he showed some good resolve this season.

I'd say a big question mark in the discussion is Adam Weber. His career was like a roller coaster with the staff changes and rough seasons. I think he could have been much better if he would have had a more stable coaching scenario.

 

[Word]

Wow that’s (formatting) ugly. Ignore the stuff other the names unless you can put it together

thats the list of 13 gopher quarterbacks with 500+ attempts though

I think the only 2 my sheet was missing were Schaffner and Curry. When I get a minute I can add them later so it's a little easier to read. I also like to add the NCAA QB rating as another way to compare (not that NCAA QB rating is the perfect way to compare - just one more stat to use). I can't tell if that's in your table.

 

[Word]

Here's the version with Schaffner and Curry added. I sorted by completion %.

 

[FredCoxRocks]

Agree on Hohensee, at least worthy of discussion. He was a JUCO, so his career stats suffer a bit.

When I was a young lad, my friends and I would play "Mike Hohensee". The object of the game was to drop back, dip both shoulders just before you threw a lofty rainbow pass to one of us as we darted down the sideline.
It was all in good fun. I did admire Hohensee and I remember the excitement he brought to Gopher football. Heck he even helped beat the Buckeyes. How many Gopher QBs can say that?

 

[HitMeAgainIAmStillMoving]

Gophers have a better QB history then I recalled. Foggie was a monster for us. If QB stats tell us anything it is to ignore the stats.

 

[GVLCGopherFan]

Haha...
Haha...OMG...you guys are toooooo effing funny!
This thread is GOLD! I’m going to forward this to some of my comedian friends. Keep an eye on your inbox in case they want me to get in touch with you.


Oh...my sides.

I wish I had comedian friends.........

 

[dlw4gophers]

When tanner morgan leaves, he will probably be #1 in all QB statistics.

That might be, but SS will be the greatest until we win another national championship

 

[laazrakit]

When looking at this, the surrounding cast of characters might need to be considered as well. Which QB was throwing to NFL-caliber wide receivers? Which QB had a top notch running game behind them? Which had the best offensive line in front of them? Which had stability (or lack thereof) from the coaching staff?

 

[goldengopher72]

One National Championship; Two Rose Bowls; Rose Bowl Victory; College Football Hall of Fame; Not to mention being a major figure in the integration of college football.

Can't believe we're having this discussion.

No Mulligan needed on this one. Gotta believe most folks here weren't even born when Sandy was playing. So can't blame their choices. No one's really close when u consider titles and impact on the game. He certainly wasn't the best passer. Those teams threw infrequently. The question asked though was who is the "greatest." Not who is the "best." It's Sandy. Hands down.

 

[Some guy]

No Mulligan needed on this one. Gotta believe most folks here weren't even born when Sandy was playing. So can't blame their choices. No one's really close when u consider titles and impact on the game. He certainly wasn't the best passer. Those teams threw infrequently. The question asked though was who is the "greatest." Not who is the "best." It's Sandy. Hands down.

He is winning the poll

 

[Bob_Loblaw]

It's such a different game now, it's hard to compare Sandy Stephens with Tanner Morgan.

Stephens statistics were awful. They weren't even close to either great QBs at that time. But I assume the people who saw him play and could compare him with his competition know more than I do and know more than the numbers tell. It's difficult to use numbers when comparing essentially two different sports.

However, I do wonder if some of the Sandy Stephens talk is kind of like the Terry Bradshaw talk. He was the QB on a dominant team - - so he must be good. Terry Bradshaw's numbers were significantly worse than guys like Ken Anderson, Fran, Bert Jones, etc. I think in the 60's and 70's being a QB on the best team = being the best QB. I'm not sure if that is super logical.

 

[HitMeAgainIAmStillMoving]

I have a neighbor who saw Sandy play in person. He assures me Sandy was great. Bradshaw would throw the ball 50 yards and send one his guys down to catch it.

 

[Flash30]

He's taken a lot of S#!t from Gopher fans, but before the injuries, he was a beast of a quarterback. I loved watching him run over would-be tacklers and grind out the tough yardage... but, like sooooo many running QBs before and after, he was never quite the same after the injuries. He was still a good quarterback... and doesn't deserve the ridicule he's had to take.

I’ll give him the benefit of the doubt and agree he doesn’t deserve to be ridiculed only because he shouldn’t have been a QB in the first place. He was not a good quarterback. And you basically just described Mike Alstott, so in other words Leidner would have been a better fb/rb.

 

[nitramnaed]

Philip Nelson.

Mankato Jesus!

 

[Spaulding!No!]

Mankato Jesus!

He had a way of making healthy men——lame.

 

[IceBoxGopher]

When looking at this, the surrounding cast of characters might need to be considered as well. Which QB was throwing to NFL-caliber wide receivers? Which QB had a top notch running game behind them? Which had the best offensive line in front of them? Which had stability (or lack thereof) from the coaching staff?

That's a good point. Abdul-Khaliq and Cupito may have had higher numbers but they had the benefit of handing it off to Maroney, Barber III and Russell. Weber was likely helped out by Decker, Morgan has had the benefit of Johnson and Bateman. Ben Utecht, Matt Spaeth and Maxx Williams made things easier too. Next year will be a really interesting one in seeing what Morgan can do.

 

[Bring back the Axe]

Anyone who voted for leidner has some strange variant of battered woman syndrome