I’ll admit it. I’m a Stanley Jackson fan.While that may be tantamount to heresy on this campus, I have to say that I’d prefer to see Stanley on the field most of the time.”But how can this be?” you ask. “Joe Germaine is obviously the better quarterback. Look, everyone knows it, so give up on Stanley, let’s start Joe, and everyone will be happy.””However,” I reply. “Your argument is unsubstantiated. What is the basis for saying Stanley is an inferior quarterback to Joe?””Look at the numbers,” you reply.”OK,” I say. “Let’s do that.”For the season, Joe Germaine is 114 for 167, for 1590 yards, 14 touchdowns, and seven interceptions. Stanley Jackson is 67 for 109, for 929 yards, eight touchdowns, and 0 interceptions. Germaine has the advantage in yards, attempts, completions, and touchdowns.So, it’s a runaway, right? Joe is obviously the better QB.Not so fast . . .While Germaine has thrown for more touchdowns, look at the td-to-interception ratio. Germaine’s is 2-to-1, while Jackson’s is infinity, because he hasn’t thrown a pick yet. As for the yards discrepancy? How ’bout we have a more accurate reflection, such as yards per completion.Germaine: 13.9 ypc.Jackson: 13.85 ypc.That’s not a whole lot of difference, folks. Obviously, the QB who throws the ball more often is going to have more yards. But, if you look at effectiveness in terms of tds-to-ints and yards per completion, Jackson stacks up pretty favorably.”Well,” you say. “Maybe if Stanley threw the ball as many times as Joe, he’d have as many interceptions.”Maybe, maybe not. It’s impossible to get an average of how often Stanley throws a pick, as he hasn’t thrown one yet. However, let’s look at touchdowns-to-attempts.Joe: 167 attempts, 14 touchdowns. One TD every 11.9 attempts.Stanley: 109 attempts, 8 TDs. One every 13.6 attempts.You see the point I’m making? The statistics are awfully close. Perhaps if Stanley were throwing the ball more, our offense would be even deadlier than it is. I’m not even taking into account Stanley’s superior running ability.There is one thing stats can’t quantify, however, and that’s leadership. Stanley Jackson was elected offensive captain this year with the most votes in team history. That tells me that the players, who know each other better than anyone on the outside does, look to Stan for leadership and to be the one to lead them into battle every week.Don’t get me wrong. I respect Joe Germaine’s quarterbacking ability. I just think that Stanley gets a rather undeserved bad rap.One other thing: What happened in the only game Joe Germaine ever started here?Good luck on Saturday, fellas.
Casey Laughman is a frequent Lantern contributor.
