Rank the top 5 QB's ever at Penn State!

[Jerademan74]

My list is as follows:
1. Kerry Collins
2. Todd Blackledge
3. Chuck Fusina
4. Chuck Burkhardt
5. John Huffnagel

I know I probably dissed some really good QB's, maybe MROB, but he was a 1 year QB wonder after Paterno figured out how to use him properly.

 

[Ranger Dan]

I think you have 5 of the top 6 QBs, with Hack fitting in somewhere in the top 3 before he is done. MRob and Clark were great athletes and competitors and leaders. A QB has to be a proven passer first though.

 

[Norm Petersin]

Milt Plum

 

[fairgambit]

I agree Collins is 1st, with Blackledge 2nd. I'd put Burkhart 3rd because he never lost a game for us. I'm going to put Richie Lucas 4th and finish with Michael Robinson because he's a great competitor and all class.

 

[LionFan96]

It all depends on what your criteria is for being a top 5 QB at Penn State. If it's wins, then John Shaffer would have to be at or near the top - all he did was win, including what I consider the greatest win in PSU history against Miami in the '87 Fiesta Bowl.

 

[olelion]

My list is as follows:
1. Kerry Collins
2. Todd Blackledge
3. Chuck Fusina
4. Chuck Burkhardt
5. John Huffnagel

I know I probably dissed some really good QB's, maybe MROB, but he was a 1 year QB wonder after Paterno figured out how to use him properly.

well here we go, another living in the past thread

 

[fairgambit]

well here we go, another living in the past thread

OK, who do you think will be the 5 best Penn State quarterbacks 50 years from now? I like Joe Maroni, Tommy Carothers, Carlton Smits, Jackie Vanesak, and Bob McWinter.

 

[simons96]

Hack has almost 6000 yds in 2 seasons (2013 - 2955 yds. 2014 - 2977 yds)

I expect him to crack 3000 yds this season.

Zack Mills is #1 with over 7000 yds so he deserves some credit (1082 attempts in 4 years? ridiculous!)

McGloin deserves some credit as well . . . highest average yds per game

 

[psuro]

The 5 best quarterbacks at Penn State are the next 5 QB recruits.

 

[BarryPSU]

Milt Plum was a great PSU QB and had a long career with the Browns. I would say Milt Plum, Kerry Collins, Todd Blackledge, Richie Lucas and Chuck Fusina. Chuck Burkhart and John Huffnagle aren't far behind.

 

[Southeastern PA Buck]

Zack Mills and Matty McGloin have to be on the short list

 

[john4psu]

It's safe to say that Collins, Blackledge and Fusina would make just about everyone's top five. After that is where the debate begins.

 

[udsig91]

Sorry...McGloin is overrated. He was a great QB against average teams. He played poorly against very good teams.

1- Collins
2- Blackledge
2A- Hackenberg (when it is all said and done)
4- Fusina
5- M Robinson (great leader and should have lead us to playing for the national championship)

 

[Jerademan74]

Sorry...McGloin is overrated. He was a great QB against average teams. He played poorly against very good teams.

1- Collins
2- Blackledge
2A- Hackenberg (when it is all said and done)
4- Fusina
5- M Robinson (great leader and should have lead us to playing for the national championship)

Just think if Hack had the same OL that Collins and Blackledge had. He would be #1 already!

 

[Still in State College]

I can't believe the love people are giving Mills. He was not close to one of the best QB's at PSU. He started for 3+ years and 3 of his 4 teams finished sub 0.500. I don't think you can use stats purely to rank the QB's the game is played differently in different generations.

I think Fusina is being under valued. 29-3 as a starter. Won the Maxwell and was runner up to Billy Sims in the Heisman.

 

[Howie'81]

1. Kerry Collins
2. Todd Blackledge
3. Chuck Fusina
4. Michael Robinson
5. John Shaeffer

 

[Jerademan74]

I can't believe the love people are giving Mills. He was not close to one of the best QB's at PSU. He started for 3+ years and 3 of his 4 teams finished sub 0.500. I don't think you can use stats purely to rank the QB's the game is played differently in different generations.

I think Fusina is being under valued. 29-3 as a starter. Won the Maxwell and was runner up to Billy Sims in the Heisman.

If I had to pick any of the QB's already mentioned to start a new Penn State team based on any QB when in his prime at PSU, I would start with Kerry Collins or Chuck Fusina. If Hack had proper time to see the field and get his pass away, he might be my #1 pick, but he is not yet in his prime (IMHO).

 

[LionFan96]

Sorry...McGloin is overrated. He was a great QB against average teams. He played poorly against very good teams.

Agreed. He was also a mediocre QB at best until O'Brien got ahold of him for his senior year. More power to McGloin for sticking with the program and helping to lead PSU out of what many (myself included) were going to be darker than the dark years, but to even have him in the conversation of top 5 QBs ever at Penn State is way overvaluing him imo.

 

[LionFan96]

If I had to pick any of the QB's already mentioned to start a new Penn State team based on any QB when in his prime at PSU, I would start with Kerry Collins or Chuck Fusina. If Hack had proper time to see the field and get his pass away, he might be my #1 pick, but he is not yet in his prime (IMHO).

You might be right about Collins, but when considering him one also has to consider the ridiculous amount of talent he had around him on offense, including 2 other top 10 draft picks in Kijana and Brady, plus Milne (one of my all-time favs), Engram, etc, etc. That offense was unbelievably loaded.

 

[simons96]

I can't believe the love people are giving Mills. He was not close to one of the best QB's at PSU. He started for 3+ years and 3 of his 4 teams finished sub 0.500. I don't think you can use stats purely to rank the QB's the game is played differently in different generations.

I think Fusina is being under valued. 29-3 as a starter. Won the Maxwell and was runner up to Billy Sims in the Heisman.

Mills is #1 at PSU for passing yards (by a LOT), and he did not have the O line other greats have had.

 

[LionFan96]

Mills is #1 at PSU for passing yards (by a LOT), and he did not have the O line other greats have had.

Ah, what could have been had Mills not suffered 2 separated shoulders and had better talent around him. He had perhaps the smoothest play action fake I've ever seen in college or pro, and I thought he had true Heisman potential. A (much younger) guy I work with who was at PSU during the dark years is constantly ragging on Mills and I'm constantly defending him.

 

[CF LION]

So who's in the next 5?

Plum
MRob
Mills
Richardson
Sherman
Shaffer
Liske

?

 

[simons96]

Ah, what could have been had Mills not suffered 2 separated shoulders and had better talent around him. He had perhaps the smoothest play action fake I've ever seen in college or pro, and I thought he had true Heisman potential. A (much younger) guy I work with who was at PSU during the dark years is constantly ragging on Mills and I'm constantly defending him.

Mills (outside his injuries) was not the problem during those years. Actually, Onward State did a pretty good article this fall on Zack:

LINK

 

[paulrandythomas]

Just think if Hack had the same OL that Collins and Blackledge had. He would be #1 already!

Mills played on some horrible teams and won games by himself (NW, his freshman year I think). Granted that his records are due in part to the fact that he played 4 years, but he was still a great college QB who could have put up gaudy numbers if surrounded by better players.

 

[LionFan96]

Mills (outside his injuries) was not the problem during those years. Actually, Onward State did a pretty good article this fall on Zack:

LINK

Agreed completely on Mills. I am, and always will be, a fan of Mills. He was never the biggest problem, but many people (like my friend/co-worker) assume he was simply because he was the QB.

 

[simons96]

Agreed completely on Mills. I am, and always will be, a fan of Mills. He was never the biggest problem, but many people (like my friend/co-worker) assume he was simply because he was the QB.

and I am in no way biased because I wear a Mills jersey on game days.

 

[bmusser24]

Blackledge
Fusina
Hufnagel
T. Sacca
Collins

 

[bmusser24]

The 5 best quarterbacks at Penn State are the next 5 QB recruits.

I remember when Matt Kizner would have made this list.

 

[fairgambit]

OK, of all the QB's listed, which one was an All American, won the Maxwell Award, finished 2nd in the Heisman balloting, defeated a Bear Bryant team in a bowl game, was a 1st round draft pick, and is in the College Football Hall of Fame? RICHIE LUCAS. Where is the love for Richie?

 

[Nashville Lion]

Any list must include Darryl Clark. Black Shoe Diaries I believe it was did a list and he was like #2 and I would have to agree. Darryl Clark was a gamer.
my list would probably be:
1. Kerry Collins
2. Darryl Clark
3. Todd Blackledge
4. Chuck Fusina
5. Michael Robinson

 

[fairgambit]

Hey Nashville. What is the food you have there in your Avatar? It looks pretty good.

 

[Nashville Lion]

it is a biscuit my friend. I am a huge biscuit fanatic. If you ever come to Nashville you have to go to the Loveless Cafe. The biscuit in my avi is actually one from a restaurant in Greenville, SC. Hope you are well my friend.

 

[fairgambit]

it is a biscuit my friend. I am a huge biscuit fanatic. If you ever come to Nashville you have to go to the Loveless Cafe. The biscuit in my avi is actually one from a restaurant in Greenville, SC. Hope you are well my friend.

I am well and I love biscuits! Of course, I realize the ones down South are the real deal, not like the crap we have up North. In the mid 80's, my wife and our 2 girls took a 2 week trip down South (Virginia, Biltmore in N/C, Charleston S/C, Great Smokey Mts....) and I had some of those real good Southern biscuits then. I don't know if there is any place in Pittsburgh that I can say has really good biscuits. They're all pretty generic. My wife is a good cook. I'm going to ask her to make me some soon. I'm glad you're still here Nashville. It looks like we're going to be losing some folks.

 

[Atpete07]

I'll prolly get eatin alive for this but right now, my number 1 is Christian Havkenberg. The way he stuck with us literally saved the program. We would have had losing seasons the last 2 years without him

 

[LionFan96]

Any list must include Darryl Clark. Black Shoe Diaries I believe it was did a list and he was like #2 and I would have to agree. Darryl Clark was a gamer.
my list would probably be:
1. Kerry Collins
2. Darryl Clark
3. Todd Blackledge
4. Chuck Fusina
5. Michael Robinson

I have to disagree on Clark being in the top 5. He was a good QB, but the 2008 and 2009 games against Iowa alone would eliminate him from my top 5. He performed poorly and threw a lot of INTs against the better (and some not so better) competition.

 

[LionFan96]

I'll prolly get eatin alive for this but right now, my number 1 is Christian Havkenberg. The way he stuck with us literally saved the program. We would have had losing seasons the last 2 years without him

If your criteria is value to the program, then I could see Hack in a top 5 for the reasons you mentioned. The value of him sticking with Penn State not once, but twice when he easily could've bailed is immeasurable. If you're just looking at top 5 QBs in terms of wins, performance, etc, however, then Hack isn't there yet. With a good oline around him though, he certainly has the potential.

 

[PSUriseANDfire]

If your criteria is value to the program, then I could see Hack in a top 5 for the reasons you mentioned. The value of him sticking with Penn State not once, but twice when he easily could've bailed is immeasurable. If you're just looking at top 5 QBs in terms of wins, performance, etc, however, then Hack isn't there yet. With a good oline around him though, he certainly has the potential.

Hack even though he had no protection last year and was running for his life most of the time still showed flashes of brilliance at times on certain throws that maybe 10-15 QB's in THE WORLD are capaple of. He has no ceiling.

 

[Chris92]

Had Blackledge returned for his 5th season, would you have him in the top spot? Not top 5 career wise, but Sacca had his moments his senior season.

 

[Option Bob]

• Boy, these "Top __ All Time" lists are tough. So many solid guys have quarterbacked our Nittany Lions through the years; some had NFL careers, and others had great supporting casts that made their W-L record shine. So I enter this topic acknowledging that I base my rankings on "clutch performance" over passing/scoring stats. The grit of a John Shaffer rates higher for me than 300+ yards passing, for example.
• 1. Todd Blackledge. His bowl games vs Ohio State (1980), USC (81), and Georgia (82) plus the comeback from 17-0 at Miami in 1981 give him the top seed for me.
• 2. Michael Robinson. Yes, a 1-year wonder, but mostly because he was willing to move to other positions for the sake of the squad. His individual dynamic as team leader in 2005, especially against the wolverines, transcends another 2 or 3 years of 2500 passing yards.
• 3. John Shaffer. After suffering the abuse he did for the loss to OU in 85, Shaffer returned in 86 as the quintessential JoePa QB. Humble, intelligent, gritty -- Shaffer "mediocred" his way to 12-0 and #1 in 1986. And some foget who scored the 1st TD vs Miami in that 14-10 win. Yep ... on a run to the end zone.
• 4. John Hufnagel. Now perhaps more than in the prior 3, my bias is showing. Huffy's performance in the 1972 Cotton Bowl vs Texas (the game our program absolutely HAD to win) is enough for me to slot him in the top 5. But remember that he came into the scene from the secondary after 5 games (2W, 3L) in 1970 and promptly delivered 5-0, 11-1, and 10-2 records over 2-1/2 years. Two of those 3 losses were at Tennessee and the other in the Sugar Bowl when Cappy was sick and didn't play at all. Hufnagel was the only offense PSU had vs OU's famed defense.
• 5. Chuck. I waver between Burkhart and Fusina, the former's 22-0 record in 1968-69 vs the latter's 22-2 in 1977-78. Burkhart had the (or at least 1 of the) greatest defense(s) in college football history. Fusina had Clark and Millen. Burkhart's surprisoingly accurate deep pass to Campbell and his off-the-script QB keeper vs Kansas are the stuff of legends, trumping Fusina's efforts in bowls. So I'm going with a tie for 5th place.

 

[Nashville Lion]

Since no one else seems to mention Darryl Clark....here are some stats:
He is all time leader in Touchdowns (43)
Season TD's (24)
Season passing yards (3003)
Career TD's responsible for (65)
He was 22-4 as a starter. his only losses were to Iowa (twice), Ohio state, and USC in Rose Bowl (2009)
He is unarguably top 10 and realistically top 5.