I see a lot of mentions for VY at QB and I get it because he was just phenomenal by the end of that 2005 NC season but I don't know about putting him atop the all-time list because I'm just not convinced that his overall career matches up well with other all-time greats.
Caveat:
Before anyone jumps all over me here saying that VY was REALLY good, I get that. He was REALLY good. The thing is that we are talking about picking the best ever CFB QB. Everybody in the conversation was REALLY good.
The two VY games that I watched the closest were the 2006 Rose Bowl (2005 BCS NC) and the 2005 tOSU/Texas game.
In that BCSNC RoseBowl VY was unreal:
- 30/40 passing for 267 yards
- NO INT's
- 19 carries for 200 yards
- 3 rushing TD's
He was absolutely the difference between Texas getting drilled and Texas winning. His throwing was very good and his rushing was unbelievable. His 200 yards rushing was the bulk of Texas' rushing offense (their two RB's had nine carries for 89 yards and one TD). Take away VY and USC wins in a laugher.
But . . .
Here are VY's stats from the game against Ohio State in the 'Shoe:
- 18/29 passing for 270 yards
- 2 passing TD's
- 2 INT's
- 20 carries for 76 yards
- No rushing TD's
In that game Ohio State had a dysfunctional Tressel offense. The Buckeyes' 22 points came on a TD and FIVE FG's. VY ended up being the hero because when Texas got the ball back down by six with just under five minutes to play he went off. The thing is that VY could just as easily have been the goat. Both of his INT's gave tOSU such short fields (TX 18 and TX 37) that they were converted into FG's.
The Buckeyes' offense was flat out pathetic in that game. As an OSU fan I didn't come away from that game thinking "VY is unbeatable" I came away thinking "If only tOSU had some semblance of an offense". The Buckeyes were 14/26 passing for 163 yards and rushed 36 times for 111 yards and almost won. That is insane.
Ohio State's TD did come on an 80 yard drive but the five FG's came on drives of:
Early in the 2005 season I thought VY was a pretty good QB but not all-time great.
I'm just saying that putting VY atop this list seems to me to be a case of putting way too much weight on his final college game in which he might as well have worn a cape.
