One of the main topics of the offseason was the distribution of known stars at quarterback. The most proven guys were at schools outside of the top five, while most of the top five teams were replacing multiyear standouts. Would that disrupt the balance of power a bit? Would all of the newbies thrive?
On Saturday, the marquee newbies indeed thrived. Georgia's Carson Beck, Michigan's J.J. McCarthy and Ohio State's Kyle McCord completed 73% of their passes for a combined 928 yards and seven touchdowns, with a couple of rushing scores thrown in as well, as their unbeaten teams won by a combined 140-40. In addition, Alabama's Jalen Milroe threw for 321 yards in a win over Texas A&M.
The known stars? They were awesome too. Drake Maye threw for 442 yards as North Carolina remained unbeaten. LSU's Jayden Daniels threw for 259 yards and rushed for 130 yards in a comeback road win at Missouri. Oklahoma's Dillon Gabriel threw for 285 and rushed for 113 in the biggest rivalry win of his career. USC's Caleb Williams led a comeback win. Michigan's J.J. McCarthy maintained his top QBR ranking.
It was quite a Saturday for quarterback play, in other words, and it could tell us a lot about where things are headed this season. Let's talk about what we learned about awesome signal-callers on a wild and, for the top teams, mostly resounding Saturday.
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McCord ready | McCarthy the best?
Beck shows his stuff | Milroe coming along
Gabriel unrivaled | Maye's perfect present
Balance helps Travis | Daniels scary spoiler
Heisman of the week | Top 10 games