2014 Purdue QB Comparison

Let me start by being clear -- I think Purdue is much better off with Austin Appleby under center. You hear about the "eye test" a lot and there are statheads in all sports who dismiss such a thing as nonsense. But here I think almost anyone outside of the Etling family would agree that the team has looked better with Austin running things. However, we're now at a reasonable comparison point, as their stats are balancing out -- Danny played five games, going 2-3, while Austin has only helmed four, going 1-3. Sure, there are differences in the levels of competition faced so please know that I know that before you correct me. I just think it's worth taking a look in the spirit of full disclosure and seeing all sides of things. Below are their passing stats for this season:

What we see are two quarterbacks not very far apart, either in statistical analysis or in W-L record. (I think we can assume that this weekend's game isn't exactly going to make Austin's numbers look markedly better.) Maybe these two guys are closer than we all thought that this helps us understand how during practice these guys were hard to separate.

Or maybe stats are bunk in this sample size.