Coaches make mistakes all the time. Most that you notice as fans are errors in clock management or play calling. Of course, 99% of fans at home complaining about playcalling don't know the first thing about calling plays, but I digress.
But, the biggest mistake a coach can make sometimes isn't even discovered. If a coach picks the wrong starting quarterback but never makes a change, there's no way to know the wrong choice was made. We can theorize, but that's about it. However, when a coach realizes he made this mistake and does make the switch, it can change the fortunes of a team's season.
For example, Arkansas State started the year 0-2 with a 73-0 loss to Oklahoma and a 37-3 loss to Memphis. J.T. Shrout, the veteran transfer from Colorado (and Tennessee before that), played poorly while starting those games. Freshman Jaxon Dailey also saw time in the first three games, earning a start against Stony Brook after Shrout was benched. He struggled and was replaced by another freshman, Jaylen Raynor, who has turned Arkansas State's season around.
The Red Wolves have won three straight, including a 44-37 win over Southern Miss and a 52-28 win at UMass in Raynor's two starts. He's thrown for 10 touchdowns with only one interception. Against UMass, he threw for 383 yards and six touchdowns. Now, Raynor has the Red Wolves looking like a team that can make noise in the Sun Belt and he also finds himself cracking this week's QB Power Rankings.
| 1 | 
Caleb Williams
USC Trojans QB
|
| You know I can't keep Williams out of the top spot for long, so he climbs back in after throwing for 403 yards and six touchdowns in USC's 48-41 win over Colorado. The Trojans defense is a double-edged sword for Williams, however. It's bad enough that he'll have to remain in games and continue pumping up stats to get the wins, but it isn't good enough to believe it won't keep the Trojans from winning the Pac-12. If Williams is to repeat as Heisman winner, this team needs to win the conference and reach the College Football Playoff. (Last Week: 2) | |
| 2 | 
Michael Penix Jr.
Washington Huskies QB
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| The Huskies had their least impressive performance of the year beating Arizona 31-24 in a game where they were favored by nearly 20 points. It was also Penix's worst performance of the year, but we must keep that in the context of Michael Penix. By worst I mean he threw for 363 yards while completing 75% of his passes. However, he failed to throw a touchdown and his yards per attempt dropped below 10 for the first time all year. It was only 9.1! Quit slacking, Mike! (1) | |
| 3 | 
Bo Nix
Oregon Ducks QB
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| Seeing the Ducks get off to a slow start against Stanford wasn't a surprise. After beating Colorado the week before, and with Washington on deck, it was expected. Nix and the squad eventually woke up as he finished the day with 298 yards passing and four touchdowns. (3) | |
| 4 | 
Quinn Ewers
Texas Longhorns QB
|
| Ewers already made an emphatic statement this season when he went on the road and took down Alabama. This week, he has the chance to make another one against Oklahoma. He's played two straight excellent games following a lackluster performance against Wyoming but has only thrown two touchdowns in that span. Something tells me he'll need more against Oklahoma this week in the Red River Rivalry. (4) | |
| a5 | 
Sam Hartman
Notre Dame Fighting Irish QB
|
| Hartman fell out of the rankings last week for two reasons. The first was that the Irish lost to Ohio State and I gave Kyle McCord his spot in the rankings because it felt fitting. Another reason was there were a lot of QBs I wanted to spotlight so room needed to be made. Well, I'm putting him back in the top five because of that run on fourth-and-16 to set up the game-winning touchdown against Duke. That was top-five stuff. (Not Ranked) | |
| 6 | 
Cameron Ward
Washington State Cougars QB
|
| They say that a QB shouldn't lose his spot to an injury, but I want to be clear that no rule in these rankings states a QB won't lose his spot to a bye. He might, but it depends on what happened with everyone else during their bye. This week, nobody did enough to supplant Cam Ward, though he does fall a spot to make room for Hartman. (5) | |
| 7 | 
Tyler Van Dyke
Miami (FL) Hurricanes QB
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| Van Dyke and the Hurricanes were off last week as well. This week, they'll return to action against a Georgia Tech team that lost to Bowling Green, so I expect a big performance. (6) | |
| 8 | 
Jordan Travis
Florida State Seminoles QB
|
| Was everybody on a bye last week? What the hell? Kids these days are lazy! What with the NIL checks and the transfer portal, they think they can take off any old time they want! Our QBs played both ways back in my day and at every position! And every game was played in the snow, and we didn't have shoes! We had to play barefoot! At the end of the game, we'd count how many toes we had left and the QB with the fewest won a $5 prize! Don't tell the NCAA on us! (7) | |
| 9 | 
Brady Cook
Missouri Tigers QB
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| Through the first two games of the year, Cook was putting up pedestrian numbers. The Tigers were 2-0 but he wasn't throwing the ball very often. Then came the Kansas State game. That day, Cook went 23-of-35 passing for 356 yards and two touchdowns. He's been doing the same thing in each game since. Last week at Vandy, Cook threw for 395 yards and four touchdowns to get Missouri to 5-0. This week, they get another huge test against an LSU secondary that's been cooked repeatedly. (NR) | |
| 10 | 
Jaylen Raynor
Arkansas State Red Wolves QB
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| Raynor was a no-star QB out of North Carolina who had offers from some Group of Five schools as well as service academies but no Power Five interest. Another North Carolina high school QB who I don't have ranked here but is balling out is USF's Byrum Brown. Brown was a three-star with a similar story. Plenty of G5 interest but no Power Five schools in a state with four of them. Whoops. (NR) | |
Honorable Mention: Drew Allar, Penn State; Jaxson Dart, Ole Miss; Dillon Gabriel, Oklahoma; Drake Maye, North Carolina; Taulia Tagovailoa, Maryland
