Voting for all-conference teams takes place in a couple weeks. Good luck selecting the Big Ten's first- and second-team quarterbacks.
Do you go with Ohio State's Terrelle Pryor, the conference's preseason offensive player of the year? Or Michigan's Denard Robinson, who is second in the nation in rushing? Or Iowa's Ricky Stanzi, third nationally in pass efficiency?
"It's going to be a difficult choice for a lot of people," Wisconsin coach Bret Bielema said.
The quality and quantity of the quarterbacks alone helps explain why the Big Ten has four teams in the top 13 in the BCS standings this week, more than any other conference.
Purdue has been scrambling since losing Robert Marve to a knee injury, and Penn State has started a true freshman and a former walk-on.
But try to rank the other nine Big Ten quarterbacks. It's agonizing. You'll feel like you should send out apologies to several.
Consider some of these facts:
* Six Big Ten quarterbacks rank in the top 24 in pass efficiency in the FBS, the most of any other conference. The SEC has five, and the Pac-10 and WAC have three each. Besides Stanzi, others in the top-24 include Pryor at No. 5, Northwestern's Dan Persa No. 10, Robinson No. 11, Wisconsin's Scott Tolzien No. 19 and Michigan State's Kirk Cousins No. 24.
* Robinson, the Heisman Trophy favorite not that long ago, has rushed for 1,349 yards. He is averaging 149.9 per game, behind only Oregon running back LaMichael James (166.4). Robinson is on track to break the FBS record for rushing yards by a quarterback in a season, set in 1996 by Air Force's Beau Morgan, who finished with 1,494 yards and averaged 135.8. Robinson also ranks No. 1 in total offense with 351.4 yards per game.
* Persa has completed 73.4 percent of his passes to lead the nation in completion percentage. Tolzien is fourth at 71.5 percent.
* Indiana's Ben Chappell, underrated because he's played in a poor program, ranks third in the nation in completions per game (26.8) and seventh in passing yards per game (296.3).
* Minnesota's Adam Weber ranks fourth in Big Ten history with 10,528 career passing yards. He should finish in third place and needs 635 yards in his final two games to move up to second.
* Illinois' Nathan Scheelhaase, a redshirt freshman, is ninth in the conference in rushing with a 61.3-yard average.
"I think there are more good quarterbacks in the league than any time since I've been in it," said Penn State coach Joe Paterno, whose team joined the Big Ten in 1993.
"The quarterbacks are such great competitors. They're not only runners and passers, they're great leaders. We're fortunate we have those kind of people in the league. I'm tremendously impressed with the quarterbacks we have."
Stanzi, Tolzien, Chappell and Weber are seniors, but the others all have eligibility left after this season.
What's more, Nebraska is joining the league next year and will bring Taylor Martinez, an exceptional runner who has gotten a lot of exposure as a redshirt freshman.
So the future, at least short term, looks good for the Big Ten from this perspective.
As for this year, somebody very deserving is going to get left off the all-conference team. It's probably going to come down to who performs best on the big stage in the final two weeks.
Pryor has a head-to-head matchup against Stanzi and the Hawkeyes on Nov. 20 in Iowa City. A week later, in the final regular-season game, Pryor meets Robinson and the Wolverines in Columbus.
So hold those ballots until the end. These final two games could, probably will, decide who is the first- and second-team quarterback.
But if I had to rank them to this point, and it's so tough, here's how I'd do it:
1. Robinson: Tate Forcier has shown Shoelace maybe isn't as irreplaceable as many thought. However, Robinson deserves bonus points because of the pressure put on him by the team's inferior defense. Stanzi and Pryor can't relate to that extraordinary burden.
2. Pryor: Hasn't necessarily had the spectacular season some were projecting coming off his Rose Bowl success, but he's been solid. He will be first team if he outplays Stanzi and Robinson.
3. Stanzi: After serious interception problems last year, he's only thrown three in 230 attempts. He's not as flashy and highly publicized as Robinson and Pryor, but he's been consistent and made very few mistakes.
4. Persa: Based on what he's done for the Wildcats, you can make the argument he's as deserving as anyone for first team.
5. Cousins: He's a tremendous leader, but really hurt himself with the bizarre three-interception game at Iowa.
6. Tolzien: He doesn't have much of a "wow" factor, but in his 22 starts, the Badgers are 18-4.
7. Chappell: How far could he have taken a better team? We'll never know.
8. Scheelhaase: He's a big part of the Illini's turnaround, but his passing needs a lot of work.
9. Weber: He has 18 touchdown passes to nine interceptions for a 1-9 team.
10. Penn State: Rob Bolden is the future, but Matt McGloin has surprised a lot of people.
11. Purdue: Gets an incomplete grade based on injuries.
Nov. 10, 2010
