Luck: 27/41 239yards 65.9% 3 TD 2 INTS 129 rating - 3 sacks Thomas 11/17 155yards 64.7% 3 TDS 0 INTS 200 rating - 2 sacks Thomas had positive rushing yards. Luck did not. Very nice game, Thomas. You get a gameball - as well as the entire defense!
Aliotti had a great scheme. The blitzing on 1st down caught them off guard late in the game. To be fair to Luck though, his receivers were dropping easy passes all night, especially his TE's.
I can't confirm this, but I believe I heard Luck won both matchups in HS. Now, Thomas has won two at college level - twice when national title implications were on the line.
I know Luck doesn't have good recievers, but whenever I've seen him play, he looks very good, but not "knock my socks off" good. I wonder if this "Andrew Luck Sweepstakes" hype is going to turn out like Greg Oden and Reggie Bush "once in a generation" players.
It's so hard to grasp what makes a good NFL QB. The best minds in football evaluate these players and are often wrong. I would have bet the clothes on my back that Joey Harrington would have been a great NFL QB based on his winning %, arm strength and grit. I finally had a chance to really watch Murray of Georgia. Man, I like him better than Luck. I'd even put Foles up there. Luck was just less than impressive last night - and these are the games he's supposed to set up - home game - vs best team in pac - playing for NC shot. Had some terrible throws and was unable to elude the pressure. I'm not sold on Luck. I felt Thomas outplayed him.
I'm sold on Luck. He had nobody to throw to outside of Whalen. Easy drop balls all night. I'm not going to make judgement about his worth as a prospect because he lost a head to head battle with Oregon. It will definitely hurt his Heisman chances though.
Murray and Foles holds on to the ball way too long for me to put them next to Luck. Foles takes way too long getting into his 2nd and 3rd progressions. And I just don't think Murray even has the arm strength to be taken as a serious NFL prospect.
Sounds like you know what you're talking about regarding Murray. I've only really watched him closely for one game. But, man, 14/18, 224 yards, 77.8% and 4 TDs - 255 rating against an OK Auburn defense, he sure looked NFL capable - that 44 yard toss was spot on. Over 3,000 yards last season, 2300 so far this year, 61% completion rating with 27 TDS to 8 INTS -- in the SEC? Not shabby.
Auburn allow the 73rd most yards in all of college football. For comparison Washington State is 70th and Oregon State is 61st. They are not a good defense by any measure. There are games where he is really good like the Auburn and South Carolina games, and really bad like the Boise State and Florida game. He is inconsistent to say the least. Here's a good video to demonstrate how inconsistent Murray is at times. [video=youtube;5QYmULCwpPA]http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=5QYmULCwpPA#![/video] He delivers some really nice touch passes here and there but completely overthrows others. He stares down his 1st option way too often and needs to get into his next progressions faster. Then in the second half it was all dink and dunk type passes with screens and passes to the flat. Though I said he played really good in this game there isn't one pass he made that was really impressive. He doesn't have a lot of zip behind his passes in my opinion and needs to get his completion percentage up. Not everyone is perfect though as you can see in this video from Luck. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d26zjmAzDgQ He makes a lot of mistakes and a lot of errant throws as well, but as you see in the second half he corrects most of those mistakes. The thing that makes scouts salivate over Luck so much are his flawless mechanics. No wasted throwing motion, sets his feet perfectly, throws tremendously on the run, great arm strength, and can already read defenses at a high level. There are other videos that demonstrate better of what he can do. One thing Murray does have going for him though is a good coach and athletic ability. I just don't see him becoming a 1st round pick.
