Like I said in other threads, I understand why Hunter got benched. That being said, the Hastings experiment has proved even less fruitful. I think you have to go with Rodrigues with Hastings only leading 1 TD drive against EWU and Sac.

I love all our guys, but maybe we need a change.

I’m not a big ‘change the QB’ guy but seems like a change would be good. HR brings back the RPO opportunity which might help kickstart the run game. Hopefully sitting for 4 weeks did him good in terms of decision making.

E. Jake Maier.

I always thought Hunter would get another chance, I thought Hawkins was sending a message but it was more of a change..
I was surprised Hunter didn’t come back earlier but may be due to medical considerations. I recall Jaylin White had a injury falling and hitting his head, missed rest of season

The guy who had no quality wins in 2019?

Yes, the guy who led us to easily our best season at the FCS level in 2018 and was one drive away from having us hosting a FCS semifinal game. The guy who in three years and 36 games, only threw for under 200 yards in a game 5 times, something our QB's have done 5 times this year in just 11 games. And four of those five were either against FBS teams or teams who at least made the FCS semifinals that year and were ranked 3rd in the playoffs.

Personally, I like QB's who can actually throw the ball downfield.

In three years he never won against a top 20 ranked opponent. At least we’ve done that this year.
If we’re looking into recent past rosters maybe we should take the other Jake from the 2017 team. He had a number of quality wins

I’d argue the win at Montana was at least as impressive as our win at Weber.

I think an ability of Jake’s that is overload his ability to audible us into favorable running plays. Likewise OUT of unfavorable. Gilliam ran for 1250 in 2019 (830 this year) at a 5.1 yd/carry (4.3 this year). Many of the same linemen ( 4 of the same starters with extra year of experience). I don’t think any of our current QBs have that much control of play calling.

Weber is currently unranked. That's not a top-20 team.

Maier also never lost to a 1-10 team.

But they were ranked when we played. You don’t go by rankings after you beat them, that tends to knock them out of the rankings.
In the 2010 decade we beat no ranked teams. And not for lack of opportunity.
I’m not arguing Maier wasn’t better than current crew, but he wouldn’t be a savior. A college quarterback needs more mobility than Maier., not to put up statistics but to beat top teams.

How would Ben Scott rank w our current QBs?

So in 2019 NDST and Montana should get credit for beating a No. 4 team because that's where we were ranked when we played them even though we ended up 5-7 and nowhere near the rankings?

Sorry, that's not how it works when you evaluate a team. A good example is this year's Northern Iowa team. Do you think the committee looked at their win over Sac State and just disregarded it because Sac was unranked at the time? Or do you think they thought, "boy, that's a great win on the road by 18 points against a team that went 8-0 in the Big Sky and is the team we're seeding 4th in the playoffs"?

Where did I say Maier would be a savior? I simply responded that I'd rather have him than any of the other four options, which you say you agree with.

Take Weber’s team. Would they be ranked this year absent our beating them? Yes, and in the playoffs.
Things happen during a season, injuries and such. If you beat a team ranked at the time you played them, that counts. The committees have a different standard, for a different purpose.
Sorry if I imputed the savior thought to you.

Hunter Rodrigues. As to HR’s performance post concussion injury, I think it has been somewhat ignored or devalued because we will never actually know the severity of the injury. Concussions are a big deal in sports as we all know, but very different for a quarterback who has to basically run the team and make split second decisions on the field unlike most of the other positions. My opinion is that they brought him back too soon and that was the cause of the sudden onset of interceptions not his loss of athletic ability that lessened his performance on the field. With a total and complete recovery I think he is still our go to quarterback IMHO.

let’s hope you’re right!

We sure are a bunch of fickle fans when it comes to qbs, lol, me included. Whoever we go with, i sure hope we make it a game. But it seems we play better on the road, minus ISU. Go Ags!

Hunter Rodrigues. I think he is clearly the best option to give the Ags the best chance. He is much quicker than Hastings, not only in scrambling/running but in pass release. He also can do RPO and read option. True he had a poor Idaho State game (although he had a flash in the second half) and threw a pass up for grabs that was intercepted in the Northern Colorado game. I do not know the full story, but the coaches could have said, “no need to try to win the game on your own - ease up on the risky/forced throws and relax, you are our guy”, but now it seems “gee, if I throw a pick, I’ll get benched again”. I guess I am not a big “change the qb guy” and would have not changed in the first place. Maybe they did bring him back to soon as 69 said. I do think TT in the right situation can inject energy, but he is a conditional QB.

I rewatched some of the Tulsa game - HR was masterful. He was also masterful in the Idaho spring game. I have not seen such a game from Miles. As for the others - no chance of throwing in a newbie in a playoff game. I also think some hurry-up offense and play variation would help. It just seems like they are playing with slow pace and predictability in the last few games.

I think on the road as a big underdog is when the Ags (in general) play best.

I was at the 2019 game in Fargo and 3 plays, in my mind, determined the game. A called back touchdown when Thomas caught a pass 1/2 yard beyond the line of scrimmage (so downfield block penalized), a forced Maier pass that was picked in the end zone on third down from the NDSU 6 (could have at least picked up the field goal), and an easy pick 6 that Devon King dropped when he jumped a route. Of course it’s all candy and nuts….

Who's to say all 4 won't play by the 3rd quarter knowing Cody Hawkins' MO

Three is possible, Sac plays 2 successfully.

I really just hope that HRs concussion has healed. The view of his dad holding him after the hit just touched my heart. We all have kids and we can all relate to that picture. Could be ours???

Agreed. His health, Harrell, Vaughn, is the primary concern.

Above all, it is just a game. Do not let our kids get hurt or damaged in the great game of football. I Will gladly accept a loss to avoid that. I know all of you agree. Hawkins knows this as well. And I love him for this.

Hawkins non-committal on Saturday's QB at the presser

Hawkins sort of lit up with the question about HR (can’t hear questions on these press conferences - but inferred), commenting on the things he did in the scoring drive and also that he’s practicing well. He alluded to the physical and emotional challenges he has gone through. HR had a not so camouflaged smile on his face while greeting teammates after the score. I think he is probably chomping at the bit for a new chance, and my thought is that he will start.

Some family members of one of our defensive players were sitting in front of us at the Causeway game. They were adamant that Rodriques should be playing and they were not happy about it. According to them, they said that Rodriiques is not injured and it was simply a coaching decision that he wasn't playing.

They seemed to have personal knowledge about Rodriques whether first hand or through their defensive player relative. They were very high on HR and they were really upset that he had been permanently benched. They said he's is an amazing kid who is very humble and quiet about not playing but they implied that "there were team members who were not happy about it."

They were not happy with our coaching staff either for a variety of reasons. I have no idea if this information is fully accurate so I've chosen not to mention the defensive players name but, it does appear that there is some credence that permanently benching HR has not been an entirely popular move.

When he came back from the concussion he wasn’t the same. He was throwing behind receivers, sometimes too low to be caught, and many of us were vocal about a change. There is no doubt in my mind that when he is on his game, he is the man. But the current formula is just not working. Put him in, and if ineffective, maybe Gunther? I would love to see him succeed.

One would like to think that all players would play their best with complete buy-in with whatever QB the staff goes with - a “professional” approach. However they are human beings with emotions and relationships between each other. I obviously do not know how extensive the alleged feelings were, but it is not a good sign if players are not all in with the QB decision. QB is a real leadership position whether the QB has a more rah-rah or more understated style. So next to coaches, I believe QB is most important with respect to player buy-in.

I think the coaches approach was to let MH play and develop and not make another switch unless things went further south - and erred to sticking with him rather than “error” by switching back to quickly. The press conference were very sIlent and even obtuse on the situation “heroes journey” and such. I can understand why press conferences are guarded - hope that teams discussions are well articulated.