It was highlighted today on that 3rd down play where Lunt, in spite of his lack of foot speed, looked like he could have run for a first down but instead tried that knuckleball to Malik Turner. There's nothing wrong with your QB being a pure pocket passer, but if he's unwilling or unable to make one when there's not one to be played with his arm. That latter possibility is what has prevented me from jumping on the Wes Lunt bandwagon. He's by far the most immobile QB I've ever seen take snaps for Illinois, and it has appeared to be a big thorn in the side of our offense when we're playing Power 5 competition. And then when you have WRs struggle to get open and catch the ball on top of that...
The only player on our team who could be relied on to make a play today was Josh Ferguson. But he couldn't do it alone, and his backups are first-year players. Wouldn't it have been nice if we had an experienced QB who could make a play with his legs on a day where pocket passing wasn't getting it done? There was this guy we had last year who could have really done a nice job with Ferguson on the zone read today moving the ball with his legs, but he's now on another team. Or we could have tried putting Crouch in for a few plays for a different look. Might not have made today's game a win, but the performance would have been a lot more respectable and a lot less of a buzzkill. It might seem crazy in the face of his gaudy passing numbers, but our starting QB is still winless against Power 5 competition.
The only player on our team who could be relied on to make a play today was Josh Ferguson. But he couldn't do it alone, and his backups are first-year players. Wouldn't it have been nice if we had an experienced QB who could make a play with his legs on a day where pocket passing wasn't getting it done? There was this guy we had last year who could have really done a nice job with Ferguson on the zone read today moving the ball with his legs, but he's now on another team. Or we could have tried putting Crouch in for a few plays for a different look. Might not have made today's game a win, but the performance would have been a lot more respectable and a lot less of a buzzkill. It might seem crazy in the face of his gaudy passing numbers, but our starting QB is still winless against Power 5 competition.
