2013 Northwestern Football Preview - The Quarterbacks

College football is fast approaching, and I, for one, could not be more excited. The 'Cats had an excellent year last year, going 10-3 and finally getting the bowl game monkey off their backs. This year, Northwestern has all the pieces to be even better. So let's go ahead and start breaking down this year's Wildcat team, starting with the quarterbacks.

Last Year

Last year, the Wildcats did not have a true starter at quarterback. Both rising senior Kain Colter and rising junior Trevor Siemian saw significant playing time at the position, responsible for 319 and 238 plays respectively. For the most part, Colter was viewed as the 'Cats' running option at quarterback, while Simian was viewed as the passing option, and, for the most part, this is an accurate assessment. Let's now take a more in-depth look at each quarterback's role in the offense this last season. 

Colter: Many Wildcats fans will argue that Colter's passing abilities are frequently underrated, and that to view him as simply a run threat is to undervalue his role and skill set. These fans typically point to his admittedly stellar 67.3% completion percentage, a number that is comparable to the likes of A.J. McCarron of Alabama. However, Colter has never struck me as a terribly impressive passer. He fails to pass the "eye test," as his passes had a notable lack of zip, and had a tendency to float. He also appeared to lack the confidence and ability to make the difficult passes. Statistically speaking, he also had a mediocre passing year. His yardage (67 yrds/gm) and scoring (8 TDs) were pedestrian, and even his supposedly excellent accuracy was inflated by the fact that his completed passes tended to be remarkably short (8.6 yrds/comp). All this, however, should not be read as too harsh a criticism of Colter, simply because he was not asked to do too much with his arm. The fact is, Colter was a dynamic, talented, and highly valuable quarterback due to his legs and ability to run the option. His 894 rush yards were 8th most among quarterbacks nationwide, while his 5.2 yrds/att were good for 9th. He also took advantage of his attempts, as his 12 touchdowns were 7th among quarterbacks. Perhaps Colter's most valuable attribute was his ability to create in important situations. Out of his 34 rush attempts on 3rd and short-to-mid situations, he converted on a remarkable 23 of his carries. Furthermore, much of Colter's value in the running game is hard to quantify, as he had an innate sense of when to keep and when to pitch in the option game, often setting up his running backs for big runs. Finally, Colter had all the intangibles needed of him last year. He was a tremendous leader and was willing to humbly step out of the game in favor of Siemian when needed.

Siemian: While Siemian did occasionally contribute to the running game, most notably with an excellent read-option keeper for a touchdown in the Gator Bowl, he was undoubtedly the Wildcats' passing quarterback last year. One thing really stands out while looking through Siemian's game log from last year: his inconsistency. At times he was truly brilliant, such as in his 308 yard performance against Indiana or his brief, 2 TD appearance against Michigan. Other times, he stunk, such as his 1-7 showing against Minnesota, or his 43% completion percentage against Nebraska. He was a guy with incredible skill, and occasionally spectacular moxie (his game-winning drive against Syracuse comes to mind), but the inconsistencies of a 2-quarterback system often seemed to hinder him, as he simply looked out of rhythm. Nonetheless, despite his inconsistencies, I loved having the guy. His ability to step up in situations where Colter did not provide us a great opportunity to win was highly valuable, and the guy stepped up BIG time in situations in which the 'Cats were tied or down by less than a touchdown, going 66-103 for 698 yards, 6 TDs, and no INTs in such situations.

Backups: Backups saw very limited play last year with Zack Oliver going 2-2 for 14 yards and walk-on P.J. Carullo making a brief appearance.

This Year

In a lot of ways, expect more of the same. Colter and Siemian will be splitting the starter duties again this year. In fact, their roles seems even more settled this year than at this point last year. Hopefully with the two's respective roles a bit more settled, Siemian will be capable of finding a better rhythm so he can avoid the slumps he suffered from last year. I would expect a few more run sets for Siemian and more pass sets for Colter just to keep defenses off-balance and maybe even some 2 QB sets. At the very least, I would expect some more sets in which Colter lines up at receiver. Otherwise, I would not expect either player to look terribly different than they did last year. 

On the bench behind these two quarterbacks is sophomore Zack Oliver. While I wouldn't expect to see much of him outside of blowout scenarios, he is a highly competent option in case of disaster. He has looked good in practices and reportedly has the strongest arm on the team. That being said, let's hope we don't have to see much of him. 

Entering the team this year is highly-regarded quarterback Matt Alviti. While he is expected to redshirt this year, he is still a guy to keep an eye on this year in practices, as, by all accounts, he will be running this team soon enough. Considered by some to be Dan Persa 2.0 he is a dual-threat option with comparable ability to throw down the field and take off running. 

Is this an improvement? 

Yes. A year of experience is never a bad thing. The fact that Colter and Siemian are used to sharing the workload and that the coaches have gained a sense of how to best use the two is great for the team. Reportedly, the coaching staff has already been able to incorporate plays into the offense that they were not able to put into place until mid-season last year. This could be a scary and exciting duo this year.