The Only Colors: An SB Nation Community

Navigation: Jump to content areas:


Pro Quality. Fan Perspective.
Login-facebook
New Blog: Cowboy Altitude for Wyoming Fans!

SHOCKING NEWS: KIRK COUSINS NAMED STARTER


After 12 games, today Mark Dantonio finally -- grudgingly, perhaps -- removed the "OR" designation that has vexed us all season long: your starting quarterback for the Alamo Bowl is shockingly not Kirk Cousins OR Keith Nichol.  As reported first by Rexrode and later confirmed on the official site, it's Kirk Cousins.  Period.

There's probably no need to rehash the arguments and incredulity about this topic; that can all be found here.  This decision is the right one, and although it should have been made a long time ago, I'm glad it's finally happened.  The number of distractions and level of drama is already far too high heading into an important game; thankfully, we apparently won't be bringing this particular controversy/saga/facepalm to San Antonio as well.

Once more, with feeling:

NAME CMP ATT YDS CMP% YDS/A TD INT RAT
Kirk Cousins 185 301 2460 61.5 8.17 18 7 145.2
Keith Nichol 49 91 764 53.8 8.40 7 3 143.2

Nichol has been good, Cousins has been better.  This is the correct choice.

0 recs  |  Comment 10 comments |

Story-email Email Printer Print

Comments

Display:

Anyone know...

…what the rushing stats look like for both QBs? After all the talk about how Nichol is a better runner/playmaker Cousins’ has shown us some mobility. I would be interested to see how many times each QB has been taken down behind the LOS per pass attempt.

by zeke4heisman on Dec 18, 2009 7:24 PM CST reply actions  

Positive rushing yards (excludes sacks/negative gains)

Nichol: 125
Cousins: 116

84 of Cousins’ yards came in the Michigan game.

Cousins is certainly mobile—and the better all-around quarterback—but Nichol is the better pure runner.

Fight for The Only Colors: Green and White!

by KJ@theonlycolors on Dec 18, 2009 10:13 PM CST up reply actions  

In other depth chart news

Who the heck is Brad Sonntag?

Fight for The Only Colors: Green and White!

by KJ@theonlycolors on Dec 18, 2009 10:09 PM CST reply actions  

Maybe it is the eggnog...

but I say why not give Nichol some PT in a meaningless game?

by RickTheBloggerMartel on Dec 19, 2009 7:16 PM CST reply actions  

Dude.

Bowl games are never meaningless.

by LVS on Dec 19, 2009 9:08 PM CST up reply actions  

usually I would agree

if this was the Capital One/Outback or a BCS caliber bowl…..but really this game doesn’t mean a lot in the grand scheme of things.

I’d like to see what Nichol can do in a dome with bowl practices to develop some packages for him as a runner.

by RickTheBloggerMartel on Dec 20, 2009 3:12 PM CST up reply actions  

To QB or Not to QB

I hope Cousins has a good game against but I would like to see Nichol take 40% of the snaps. I’m really wasn’t all that impressed with Cousins this year. Cousins throws a good ball but didn’t rise up against the better teams in the Big Ten. I like the mobility Nichol brings and will take a less accurate passer if we use him like Lefevre. Our offense is very stale and predictible.

by Prime Time on Dec 20, 2009 12:38 PM CST reply actions  

Cousins vs. the "better teams"

Combined stats vs. the 5 Big Ten bowl teams on the schedule:

91-160 (56.9%) for 1,098 yards (6.9 yds/attempt), 8 TDs, 4 Int

There’s certainly room for improvement, but those are pretty good numbers for a first-year starter playing without much of a running game. To the extent the offense was predictable, it was precisely because we didn’t use Cousins’ throwing ability enough.

Fight for The Only Colors: Green and White!

by KJ@theonlycolors on Dec 20, 2009 2:49 PM CST up reply actions  

Cousins was the second-ranked QB in the Big Ten

Clark just barely beat him out at the end.

Whatever faults our offense has (and there are a few, such as the insistence on the run-run-pass-kick sequence at the goal line), Cousins wasn’t one of them. Nichol wasn’t awful, but he one-hopped so many throws that Cousins would have put on the money.

When you have a player going at All-Big Ten level (granted, as much due to lack of competition as anything else), you do not yank around his playing time by putting in someone who was less effective.

by SpartanDan on Dec 20, 2009 5:44 PM CST up reply actions  

It all about the "W"

What I like about Nichol is his ability to extend the play with his feet by moving the pocket to find an open receiver. With the struggles our O-line has in creating a pocket or opening running lanes, I feel Nichol’s assets are more valuable. It seems to me we need more playmakers on offense besides K-Mart and Blair White. I just think Nichol has more upside than Cousins and he should be given every opportunity to win the job. Fortunately, we are stiil a young team with plenty growth ahead of us.

by Prime Time on Dec 20, 2009 9:31 PM CST reply actions  

Comments For This Post Are Closed


User Tools

A Michigan State basketball and football blog community
Start posting about the Spartans »

Join SB Nation and dive into communities focused on all your favorite teams.

Connect_with_facebook

FanPosts

Community blog posts and discussion.

Recent FanPosts

Small
Recruiting data
Adorno5_small
Mike Shaw and 2011 Basketball Recruiting Loose Ends
State_small
Recruiting Tidbits
Small
Donavon Clark!
Small
Personal expectations when an MSU football schedule is announced.
Delvonduck_small
UM's NCAA Allegations, As Told Through "The Office"
Small
Big Ten Divisions
Small
Recruit #14 Jack Allen
Small
South Carolina-MSU is part of ESPN's 24 hour hoops marathon
State_small
Positional Revisionism and MSU Basketball

+ New FanPost All FanPosts >

SBNation.com Recent Stories

Florida State's Christian Ponder, left, runs as Miami's Marcus Robinson gives chase during the first quarter of an NCAA college football game Monday, Sept. 7, 2009, in Tallahassee, Fla. (AP Photo/Phil Coale)

2010 ACC College Football Preview: Deep Conference Should Make For Highly Competitive Season

Big Ten commissioner Jim Delany speaks in Lincoln, Neb., Friday, June 11, 2010, in front of a Big Ten and a Nebraska backdrop. Nebraska made it official Friday and applied for membership in the Big Ten Conference, a potentially crippling blow to the Big 12 and the biggest move yet in an off season overhaul that will leave college sports looking much different by this time next year.(AP Photo/Nati Harnik) +5 updates

Big Ten Announces Conference Divisions For 2011

FILE - In this Sept. 24, 2009 photo, South Carolina's head coach Steve Spurrier stands with his quarterback Stephen Garcia (5) before the start of their NCAA college football game against Mississippi at Williams Brice Stadium in Columbia, S.C.    A year ago, first-time postseason starter Stephen Garcia got chewed out by South Carolina coach Steve Spurrier for playing video games the night before the Outback Bowl game. These days, Garcia putting all his focus where it counts most _ on the Gamecocks.  (AP Photo/Mary Ann Chastain, File)

College Football Kickoff: 2010 Season Gets Underway With Southern Mississippi At South Carolina

More from SBNation.com >


Managers

Onlycolors-md_small KJ@theonlycolors

Sbnation2_small Pete Rossman

Woodward_small LVS

Contributors

Square_sun_small Steve Hendershot

Adorno5_small intrpdtrvlr

Oldspartan_small Rob Visconti