WKU Football: Ever Present QB Controversy Ramps Up

There’s a reality show producer out there who is drooling over the opportunity to have a show on the WKU quarterback controversy. But, we…

Oct 11, 2018

There’s a reality show producer out there who is drooling over the opportunity to have a show on the WKU quarterback controversy. But, we couldn’t get a hold of the producers of Survivor or Big Brother (despite Fletcher working for a CBS station) to cover this, we’re going to take the reins ourself.

According to head coach Mike Sanford’s press conference on Monday he said:

“We have three quarterbacks ready to go play and like we said this is going to be really important for us to get the continuity at the position. We’re going to go into this week continuing to find out where exactly we’re going to be from a quarterback position and wanting continuity, wanting to make sure we’re not in the situations again where we have different quarterbacks playing at the end of the game.”

So let’s cut through the Coaching Bullhonky and translate this.

Understandably, the team wants and needs a solid presence at quarterback to lead the offense and the fan base through the season and this year and fans have seen three options over the first five games; Redshirt senior Drew Eckels, redshirt sophomore Steve Duncan, and redshirt freshman Davis Shanley.

And so far, thanks to the combination of injuries and riding the hot hand, all three have gotten just about even playing time to show the Toppers what they’ve got.

Drew Eckels — Old Man Eckels

Watching Eckels start against the Badgers in Wisconsin was exciting for me. He played well in his first start, but it wasn’t just that for me; it was a new hope for the WKU football team with Sanford’s second year getting underway. He was developing a new strategy for WKU’s offense, who struggled to gain any rushing yards last year. It was a minor miracle for any running back to get 50 yards in a single game.

Despite all of that hope that was felt in the first game of the year, Eckels hasn’t had the best season for his (probably) last season. So far this year he has two starts, both of which have not only been losses but also saw him suffer injuries in.

Against Wisconsin, he went 15-of-26 for 167 yards and rushed for 38 more. And while the result against Maine was a disappointment, Eckels threw for 347 yards and three touchdowns in this one. He even had a 66 yard touchdown pass early in the Maine game, but overall Eckels is the boiled chicken of the Hilltopper offense. For the non-cooks, boiled chicken is blah, and there’s better ways to fix chicken. So for me, Eckels would be so much better in a different offensive scheme. Yes he can move, but he looks like a sprinter on stilts.

When watching him play, I almost compare him to an Andrew Luck: Both are great at passing in the pocket, both can scramble but they don’t have a lot of speed and they are both hurt a lot. Even with Eckels being hurt he can still have a leadership role in the locker room.

However, he also stayed on his back a lot during both of these games getting sacked seven times. Add it all up, and the case for/against Eckles looks like this:

Pros for Eckels

Older, more experienced quarterback.
Great stats in two games, even though they were losses he still showed lots of potential.

Cons for Eckels

Older quarterback with a new coach in his second season, still hurt by mysterious injury.
Younger QBs run the system more effectively and with more consistency than Eckels.
Losing to two opponents (one was okay, while the other definitely wasn’t)

Ruling: Eckels sits

Steven Duncan — Jack Sparrow

(Just watch the way he runs)

Just like the famous pirate, he has an unmistakable run. Since a friend pointed it out to me, I can’t unsee it. Duncan sat out the first two games until the injury of Eckels propelled him into the spotlight against Louisville. He started the game and fell short; his first drive ended in an interception, while the second drive ended in a punt. Neither very successful.

Only piling up 20 yards of passing before hitting the pine, he came back in the mid-way point of the Ball State game and went 12-of-16, throwing for 94 yards. He also ran for 55 yards, which helped to open up the running game for Joshua Samuel who had 93 yards.

Even with the bye week, I’m still not ready to talk about this the loss to the Herd, but here goes; this was a close one. Going right down to the ten-yard line where Duncan fumbled. He went 24-of-39 for 263 passing yards while rushing for 12 yards on 15 attempts, fumbling twice and throwing one interception and one touchdown.

Just like the first few series of the Marshall game, Duncan sometimes needs a few series to get started. He makes bad decisions in the RPO, sometimes it slides by and other times it sticks out like a sore thumb. But after those first few blunders he performed extremely well. His play wasn’t the main reason for the failure of the offense, however it didn’t help either.

So if I’m continuing the comparisons of famous quarterbacks to WKU ones, Duncan is someone who reminds me of Johnny Manziel: He can run, he can gun and he makes stupid mistakes. (This is strictly for football comparison, not life choices.) Johnny Football was a football demi-god in college, but his numbers in the NFL were more like Duncan’s current ones.

For those who aren’t football minded; think back to the first Fast & the Furious movie when Paul Walker first raced Vin Diesel; he lost to the balded headed veteran and Vin Diesel puts him in his place. That’s the conversation I imagine if Brandon Doughty or Mike White watched Duncan play. He has a lot of potential but he’s not got the upside potential that past quarterbacks had.

Pro’s for Duncan

He helped get the only one thus far in the season.
He’s thrown for 377 yards this year, rushing for 77 yards.

Con’s for Duncan

Poor decision making, two interceptions, two fumbles, and four sacks (not necessarily his fault but still).

Ruling: You have to bench him

Not for the fumble against Marshall but for the decision making in certain situations. He is your number two if Shanley goes down.

Davis Shanley — The Young Gun

Davis Shanley is an exciting young quarterback who helped to pump some excitement into a fan base after a devastating loss to Maine at home. WKU fans, mostly, went into the Louisville game expecting to be utterly devastated by a more talented Cardinal squad and that wasn’t the case at all. At the end of the day, WKU was the better team.

Shanley came into the game as the backup for Duncan, but ended up taking the reins for a WKU offense and leading them to an early 14–3 halftime lead.

Despite the Tops’ three point loss, Shanley continued to play well, going 22-of-33 for 240 yards and a touchdown. He spread the offense out and opened up the rushing offense with Ferby getting 74 yards and Samuel getting 46 yards and also let his receivers get in on the action, as Quinn Jernighan logged 66 yards and Lucky Jackson had 56 yards.

This may have been a loss but it added some positive vibes to the Hilltoppers morale (reluctantly, we must call this a moral victory).

Ball State was a turning point. As the resident old guy, I was there when WKU played Ball State back in 2007 and lost 35–12, and the next year in 2008 when Ball State was ranked #25 in the nation and beat the Tops, 24–7. So any time WKU beats Ball State is a good day in my book.

Plain to say, Shanley lit these guys up. He had a good day, going 13-of-19 and throwing for 158 yards as well as rushing for 16 yards. But he, unfortunately, went down midway through the game and passed the reins to Duncan. Sadly, he hasn’t been had any playing time since the injury. That’s partially due to the momentum that Duncan carried after the Ball State game and the injury.

If you’re looking for a definite starter based off the stats, look no further: Shanley doesn’t have the playing time Duncan does, but he has helped to open up not only the passing game but all aspects of the offense. It’s kinda like the first person who used pepperonis on a pizza (that man was a genius). Pepperoni makes the entire pizza better, from the cheese (running backs) to the crust (receivers) it just takes the blah of cheese pizza and makes it world famous or at least conference winning type.

If Shanley were to compare to a famous QB, it would have to be Baker Mayfield. I so wish I could get Baker’s attitude into Shanley; I personally love the flag in the field at Ohio State, yelling “you forgot who daddy is” to Baylor fans, and grabbing his crotch and yelling “F U” to Kansas fans. Yes, he seems out of control, but the guys got great leadership skills. Just like Mayfield now, Shanley is a great leader without the outbursts. Shanley has the upside potential to make the offense a “Brohm era” type system again, where he can make the offense work like a well oiled machine.

Pro’s for Shanley

He has the energy and leadership role down for the Tops.
He jump-started the Tops in Louisville, led them to the first victory in Muncie, IN.
Has no Interceptions this season.

Cons for Shanley

He’s a young Quarterback so he can make bad decisions. The injury could be detrimental to his playing time.
He’s only played in one complete game (two offensive series shy, but we will give it to him). He had a few in the Wisconsin game and only went to mid-way through the Ball State game. So limited playing time.

Ruling: If Shanley is available, gotta start him

According to the Depth Chart this week, there’s still no dignified starter; it’s either Duncan OR Shanley.

Luckily for us, we’ve been spared a reality show of WKU quarterbacks, but the importance of a consistent starter is still needed. Yes, Duncan got the win over Ball State, but Shanley pushed the envelope against Louisville.

Hilltopper fans have been blessed for the past seven years to have Brandon Doughty and Mike White at the reins of the offense and little question as to who should start. As reluctant as I am, you have to trust the coaching staff to make the right decision. Luckily, Sanford was a quarterback in his younger days and knows what’s expected.