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

[simons96]

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.

I thought mcGloin passed him in 2012 with 3271 yds (which I think Hack cracks this year). and Matty Moxie also had 24 TDs that season.

of course Darryl Clark played during those dismal "Paterno lost his edge" (06-09) years when PSU went 40-12 and had the second best record in the Big Ten. And should have played for a title in 2008 (Clark threw only his 3rd INT of the year to set up Iowa's GW FG!!!)

 

[childsSkip]

!. Blackledge - best career
2. Collins - best single season
3. Fusina
4. Hufnagel
5. Hack - will probably be No. 1 if he stays 2 more years
Hon. Mention. - Robinson, Clark, Sacca(could have been No. 1 if he redshirted as a true frosh)

 

[NitNE73]

A friend from the dorm in 1968 asked me if I knew why Burkhadt threw so few interceptions. Because they can't jump any higher than we can, he laughed. Burkhadt won games and he was lucky enough to be on a team that was dammed good. But it was the ground game and defense that dominated. Our passing game was to All American tight end, Ted Kwalick who could catch anything, and not much else. Boy howdy, but we could run the ball.

I think we can debate many of the other great Penn State qbs but as much as I loved those years, Chuck just wasn't one of the best.

 

[LionFan96]

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.

Flashes of brilliance, but also a number of very poor decisions even when not pressured. You can say his poor decisions were due to fearing/thinking he was going to get pressured even when the line held, but a truly great QB wouldn't use that as an excuse. Even taking into account the poor oline play, I don't think there's any question Hack looked better his freshman year than his sophomore year. How he does his junior and (hopefully) senior year will decide if he's a top all-time PSU QB, but he simply isn't there yet.

 

[KidTwist]

Mills was a true gamer. Best ball handler we have seen and also ran the option better than any other QB we have ever had including Robinson and Clark. The kid had shake and bake and some nice wheels on him. To bad he got racked so many times that his shoulder gave out on him. A true Penn State great over 7K passing yds! That ain't chopped liver!

 

[Still in State College]

Neither is 41 TD's and 39 ints in 43 games.

Others here love him as a QB but he was definitely one of the problems from 2001-2004. He is the guy who touched the ball every play.

2002 bowl game vs Auburn - 8/24 for 67 yards.

 

[Jerademan74]

• 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.

Option Bob: Great analysis, but no mention of Kerry Collins? Was that an oversight, or do you not think he deserbes mention?

 

[Ten Thousan Marbles]

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.

Evans will be better than McWinter, imho.

 

[LionFan96]

Neither is 41 TD's and 39 ints in 43 games.

Others here love him as a QB but he was definitely one of the problems from 2001-2004. He is the guy who touched the ball every play.

2002 bowl game vs Auburn - 8/24 for 67 yards.

Who were the receivers Mills had to throw to during his career? The WR cupboard was incredibly bare - Tony "Alligator Arms" Johnson was the best receiver.