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Ranking The QBs WVU Will Face This Season

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West Virginia is going up against some high powered offenses this season and they are all led by solid quarterbacks.

Each QB can lead their respective team up and down the field, so today we ranked them from 12 to 1 on potential threats to the Mountaineers.

12. Thomas MacVittie, Kansas

Photo via LJWorld.com

Kansas is the second home at a Power 5 school in MacVittie’s career. He originally started his career at Pitt, but only played three games on the special teams unit as a redshirt freshman in 2017. He then transferred to Mesa Community College for the 2018 season and passed for 1,064 yards and 16 touchdowns. MacVittie was highly ranked in the JUCO class and got an offer from Kansas. It will be interesting to see what Les Miles does with this QB and the new Jayhawk offense, given that he wins the job.

11. Alex Delton, TCU

Photo via BringOnTheCats.com

A transfer from Kansas State, Alex Delton is the projected starter for TCU this upcoming season. Injuries caused TCU to play three quarterbacks last season and coach Gary Patterson’s team enters the summer without a clear-cut starter. Delton arrived in Fort Worth this spring after spending four years with the Wildcats.

During his stint in Manhattan, Delton threw for 171 yards and five touchdowns and rushed for 868 yards and 11 scores over 20 appearances. Delton will have to battle for this job with Ohio State transfer Matthew Baldwin, redshirt freshman Justin Rogers and incoming freshman Max Duggan.

10. Matt McKay, NC State

Photo via SBNation

Matt McKay hasn’t played much in his collegiate career due to having to sit behind recent NFL Draft pick Ryan Finley. Finley played for NC State for a few years and due to not many blowouts, McKay didn’t get many opportunities.

His career stat line so far is 7 for 8 passing and 87 yards, and has 1 rushing TD. NC State will be going through a rebuilding year after a solid year last year, but don’t count them out, they always put up points and McKay has a strong arm and some wheels.

9. Skylar Thompson, Kansas State

Photo via freep.com

Chris Klieman’s new offense should be a good fit with Skylar Thompson’s skill set. KSU lost running back Alex Barnes to the NFL Draft — who was a major part of their offense, which means that Thompson will have more chances to show off his abilities. He played in 11 games in 2018, completing 58.7 percent of his throws for 1,391 yards and nine touchdowns to four picks. Thompson also added 373 yards and five rushing scores. The junior has made 14 starts over the last two seasons and has accumulated 2,080 passing yards in that span.

8. Spencer Sanders, Oklahoma State

Photo via newsok.com

Spencer Sanders is the new quarterback to add to the list of “OK State always has a good QB”.  Last year, Taylor Cornelius threw for 3,978 yards and 32 touchdowns and Sanders is going to step right in and fill his shoes.

Sanders will be competing with freshman Brendan Costello and Hawaii transfer Dru Brown for the starting role, but he is in the lead to start Week 1. He is a redshirt freshman, but Sanders threw for 8,747 yards in his high school career and also rushed for over 1,000 yards in back-to-back seasons (2016-17).

7. Ben DiNucci, James Madison

Photo via College Sports Journal

Ben DiNucci is the second QB on this list to transfer from Pitt. He spent three seasons at Pitt and has been at JMU for almost two years.

He is a seasoned veteran and has the experience competing in big games. Last season, DiNucci was a third-team All-Colonial Athletic Association choice for his 2,275 passing yards, 433 rushing yards and 25 total touchdowns. He also works out with a private QB coach who also trains NFL QB’s Deshaun Watson and Josh Dobbs. Mountaineer fans shouldn’t just expect this to be an easy win, JMU is a D2 powerhouse and will put up a good fight in Morgantown.

6. Alan Bowman, Texas Tech

Photo via sportingnews.com

Injuries slowed down Alan Bowman in his freshman year but he is set to have a big sophomore season.

Despite only playing in eight games, he still finished the year with 2,638 yards and 17 touchdowns to seven picks. Bowman blew up against Houston for 605 yards and five touchdowns in a 63-49 win for Texas Tech and passed for 408 yards against Iowa State. Last year, his 69.4 completion percentage was higher than Oklahoma’s Kyler Murray (69.0) and Will Grier (67.0).

5. Charlie Brewer, Baylor

Photo via sicem365.com

Charlie Brewer showed plenty of promise as a freshman, as he threw for 1,562 yards and 11 touchdowns in 2017. As expected, Brewer was better as a sophomore last season and should be primed for a push for All-Big 12 honors in 2019.

Starting in 12 games this past year, he completed 61.5 percent of his passes and threw for 3,019 yards and 19 touchdowns. Baylor has been on a slump since all of their controversy a few years ago but they are slowly building back to becoming a Big 12 contender.

4. Brock Purdy, Iowa State

Photo via sports360az.com

Mountaineer fans had their hearts broken to this guy right here last year and when Iowa State comes to Morgantown this season it should be a shootout. Brock Purdy finished last year with 2,250 yards and 16 touchdowns, and ran for 308 yards and 5 touchdowns. He may not have Hakeem Butler anymore, but this offense has other weapons who will step up.

3. Kelly Bryant, Missouri

Photo via devywatch.com

Kelly Bryant, the transfer from Clemson, is ready to take this SEC offense to another level. Missouri loses Drew Lock to the NFL but Bryant will step in and not lose a beat. We all remember Bryant when he led Clemson to the 2017 National Championship game in 2017 but lost his starting job to freshman sensation Trevor Lawrence. Bryant has a big chip on his shoulder and is out to prove people wrong. Before last years drama, Bryant was deemed a top 5 QB in the country by many college football analysts.

2. Jalen Hurts, Oklahoma

Photo via thefranchiseok.com

Jalen Hurts, another incoming transfer to the Big 12, from Alabama, is a National Champion who brings leadership and a winning attitude.

Hurts decided to transfer from Alabama due to the emergence of Tua Tagovailoa, and chose Oklahoma because he knew he had a great chance to win and get to the NFL. Hurts played in 42 games at Alabama and passed for 5,626 yards and 48 touchdowns and ran for 1,976 yards and 23 touchdowns. He will be a great addition to Lincoln Riley’s offense and will put up big numbers in 2019.

Oklahoma did have the past two Heisman winners with Baker Mayfield and Kyler Murray and will try to make history and make Hurts their third straight Heisman winner.

1. Sam Ehlinger, Texas

Photo via sportingnews.com

Sam Ehlinger is the front-runner to be the Big 12 Player of the Year in 2019. Ehlinger is now a veteran in the Big 12 and has played with Texas since the middle of the 2017 season. Last year he threw for 3,292 yards and 25 touchdowns and ran for 482 yards and 16 touchdowns. He is a threat no matter where Texas is on the field. The Mountaineers will have to keep someone close by and that player’s only job is to stay with Ehlinger. If Ehlinger stays healthy, look for Texas to make another run at the Big 12 Championship and the College Football Playoff.

 

Please follow me on Twitter @John_Pentol_ and be sure to subscribe to WVSportsNow.com for all West Virginia Mountaineer news and updates!

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