The best teams throughout the nation have an ideal balance of capabilities: a strong passing attack, a good rushing game, and a stout defense.
However, some teams are completely reliant on a quarterback, providing a tarp which covers holes throughout the roster. Few quarterbacks are able to completely conceal these limitations, but some still have their squads in the hunt for a conference title.
While looking at the talent on a couple of unbeaten teams — California and Oklahoma State — most of the damage they do on offense is through the air. If both Jared Goff and Mason Rudolph were out of the equation, both the Golden Bears and Cowboys would be in or near the cellars of their respective conferences.
Goff has catapulted himself to the top of many draft boards with a strong performance so far this season. He has carried the Golden Bears to an unblemished record. While it is difficult to see Cal remaining unbeaten, Goff has been special. He has been throwing under pressure at times, but he uses his tall frame and quick release to beat the pass rush and get the ball in his playmakers’ hands.
What helps is that this has not been a completely new experience for Goff. His teams at Cal have averaged just 167 yards on the ground during his time in Berkeley. Not having the run game to rely on, Goff has had to lead the offense once again. Since this is his third year on campus, Goff has been able to accumulate numbers. This has led to him being the school’s all-time leader in yards, total offense, touchdowns, and completions.
The Pac-12 is loaded this season in the South with UCLA, USC, Utah, and both Arizona schools. However, the North has just Stanford as competition, since Oregon appears be down this year. That makes the Pac-12 North winnable for Cal, but the task of getting the job done is all on Goff’s shoulders.
In Stillwater, Oklahoma, the situation isn’t all that different.
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One of the four teams tied atop the Big 12 is Oklahoma State and its do-everything quarterback, Mason Rudolph.
Unlike Goff, Rudolph is still quite young and inexperienced. He has been a bit turnover-prone, with an interception against Kansas State and two against Texas. To no one’s surprise, these were both close games, since the OSU offense flows as Rudolph does. The Cowboys weren’t consistent enough to blow away their opponents, but they were potent enough to stay in games for 60 minutes and ultimately win them. Rudolph tossed for 437 yards and three touchdowns in the two-point victory over Kansas State, and for 290 and a score against Texas in a three-point win.
In both games, Rudolph didn’t have a single player rush for over 56 yards. Most of the per-carry averages for Oklahoma State were near three yards. With this, defenses have no reason to respect the running game at all. They can load up to stop Rudolph. So far, his work has been good enough to barely remain unbeaten, but only time will tell if that can be continued.
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Let’s shift gears a bit.
One team which relies heavily on its quarterback was not able to be as fortunate as Cal and Oklahoma State this past weekend. While Jaylen Walton did rush for 133 yards against Vanderbilt, much of Ole Miss’ success so far this season has been based on the right shoulder and legs of quarterback Chad Kelly. That finally caught up with the Rebels in the Swamp, and they dropped from the ranks of the unbeaten.
Florida was able to key in on Kelly and keep the Ole Miss offense in check, while running all over the Rebel defense.
It is hard to be one-dimensional in any conference in college football. This usually catches up with the teams that place an unusually high burden on their quarterbacks. When the laws of averages even out is unknown, but one thing is true: if you are relying on one single player, most notably and especially a quarterback, it eventually does catch up. It was just the Rebels’ week.
We’ll see if Jared Goff and Mason Rudolph can defy the odds as the season moves into week six.
