Sure - but to quote MadBird - the stats are what the stats are. People expected more out of Peters, who was definitely capable. DeVito makes quick decisions and delivers the ball on time. It's served him well. QB's aside, the bottom line is Bielema didn't like what he saw out of Petersen, and it had to be more than just in games, for him to pull the trigger so quickly into his 3 year contract. By no means am I saying we should cut ties with Petersen at this point. I'm just saying it's definitely something to watch going forward. If the trends he is producing the past 2 years don't begin showing signs of life then perhaps Petersen's philosophy has been passed by with regards to the college game itself. It's not that he's "forgotten his good stuff as @MadBird joked, but maybe more that the book is out on how to defend it.RB28
Sure, but I did a deeper dive, as I' am prone to do at times and if you look at who Peterson inherited at QB from the 2020 team. Then add Rutgers QB transfer, who was rated last in Big 10 by 24/7 for the 2020 Rutger season, Peterson's his QB room was pretty bad in 2021 at U of I. Also read Peters, who once showed promise, was in and out of concussion protocols heading into 2021, and they had bad #2 and #3.
Then for 2022 season, Syracuse 5th year QB transfer (DeVito) comes in and becomes a top QB in the Big 10 .. currently a 146 QB rating is #5 but right behind #3, .. 70% completion rate is #1, 15 TDs to 3 picks. His Pick to Pass Rate is about 1 pick per 95 passes.
So U of I QB position went from last in 2020, with no upgrades for 2021, and U of I now has top quartile level QB in 2022. So Peterson had nothing to work in 2021. Not to mention, the defense went from last in 2020 to #6 in 2021, to #2 in 2022 .. so offense is on the field a lot more in 2022. So lot going well for 2022 U of I team compared to 2020 team .. though slipping of last couple games.
2020 U of I QB stats inherited by Peterson, plus a bad Rutgers transfer Sitkowski who's only year starting ar Rutgers was 2018, ended with 4 TDs and 18 picks .. granted Rutgers was horrible in 2018.
# Player GP Rating COMP ATT INT % YDS TD Long AVG/G 18 Peters, Brandon 5 106.17 39 80 0 48.75 % 429 3 28 85.80 1 Williams, Isaiah 6 108.27 26 63 2 41.27 % 393 4 46 65.50
Further, I don't have the time to verify it, but I suspect when Petersen has had success I'm guessing it's most likely been because he has competent QB, AND a robust WR room. It seems most of us feel like we have found the QB, but the consensus seems to be that the WR Room needs a ton of work seeing as how a walk on can come on and be the leader in the clubhouse.
What I haven't liked this year is how we didn't scheme to get the ball into Taula's hands way more than we did. He was clearly one of our top playmakers when we throw it, and he presents a mismatch out there. For him to only have 1 TD at this point seems criminal given his mismatch potential. I also feel like we also should have been working to get it into Jalen Carr's hands more as well. You can't teach speed. Anyway, at this point it is what it is, we just need to beat WIU and end with a winning record.