Alright, I was thinking of this on the way to Gillette Wednesday morning while trying to figurer out some bye week content.
Has TC been worse this year than he was to this point in 2023? It certainly feels like it, but I wanted to go back through the game logs and double check.
Here was his first 8 games in what was his first 'true' season of D1, ACC college football (I didn't even look up fumble numbers, this is purely passing and rushing)...
NIU - 13-28, 138 yards, 2 TD, 1 INT. 9 rushes, 67 yards, 1 TD
Holy Cross - 17-23, 201 yards, 2 TD, 0 INT. 16 rushes, 69 yards, 0 TD
FSU - 20-33, 305 yards, 1 TD, 1 INT. 16 rushes, 95 yards, 1 TD
Louisville - 17-33, 265 yards, 3 TD, 0 INT. 10 rushes, 49 yards, 1 TD
UVA - 16-26, 183 yards, 2 TD, 2 INT. 16 rushes, 78 yards, 0 TD
Army - 4-9, 51 yards, 0 TD. 31 rushes, 142 yards, 4 TD
G-Tech - 17-29, 255 yards, 0 TD, 1 INT. 13 rushes, 128 yards, 2 TD
UConn - 16-24, 151 yards, 1 TD, 1 INT. 14 rushes, 45 yards, 0 TD
Now, let's look at this season...
FSU - 10-16, 106 yards, 2 TD, 0 INT. 14 rushes, 73 yards, 1 TD
Duquesne - 9-10, 234 yards, 4 TD. 1 rush, 8 yards, 0 TD
Missouri - 16-28, 249 yards, 3 TD, 2 INT. 13 rushes, 16 yards, 0 TD
Michigan State - 10-16, 140 yards, 1 TD, 0 INT. 15 rushes, 15 yards, 0 TD
UVA - 22-30, 254 yards, 2 TD, 2 INT. 10 rushes, -9 yards, 0 TD
V-Tech - 17-26, 205 yards, 2 TD, 0 INT. 20 rushes, 58 yards, 0 TD
Louisville - 13-28, 164 yards, 3 TD. 15 rushes, 43 yards, 0 TD
Obviously, he missed one game (Western Kentucky) with the injury (still not sure what it was exactly), so the numbers aren't exactly apples to apples, but for the point of this exercise it's pretty close.
Being so wrapped up in the day-to-day covering these guys and the other teams in the area, I didn't realize he only had one rushing TD so far this season compared to nine at this point a year ago. I think we've all known that he's been less of a runner with this offensive staff - something he's pointed out as well - but it feels like that's been taken way too far the other way now. They've got to find a way to get him running more considering he's simply not your prototypical pocket passer.
The fact he had 11 passing TD's this time last year and has 17 right now is surprising given how inept the passing game has looked at times. If you're a Seinfeld fan, this is bizzaro world type stuff.
The interceptions are actually way down this year, which came as a bit of surprise too, but again, that makes sense with the offense struggling to move the ball (or even attempt to) down the field.
Overall, I think this clearly shows that these final four games need to be ones where Lawing and/or Bill O'Brien gets him back to doing what he does best. More designed runs and rollouts so he can get the ball out without having to dance back there in the pocket. The whole 'making him a guy that can read defenses' thing just hasn't worked.
