FARGO -- Austin Sumner, Alex Ross and Jared Johnson were three highly-touted quarterbacks who came to the Fargodome for the 2014 FCS playoffs. The teams they led -- South Dakota State, Coastal Carolina and Sam Houston State -- went home losers.
(READ all of Mike's blog posts here.)
The quarterback who received less attention locally, North Dakota State's Carson Wentz, will be playing Saturday for the Football Championship Subdivision title in Frisco, Texas.
There is more that goes into winning a football game than just quarterbacks, obviously. It's the ultimate team game. Mediocre QBs can lead good teams and good QBs can lead mediocre teams. But there's no doubt an outstanding quarterback can make the difference between a playoff team and a championship team.
And there's no doubt Wentz has been undervalued, to some extent, by both Bison fans and those who follow FCS football. Jeff Kolpack at The Forum wrote about Wentz's season earlier this week and made the case Wentz suffered from following in Brock Jensen's cleats. Jeff was correct: How can you hope to measure up to three straight national titles and enough miracle finishes, comebacks and heroics to fill 15 minutes on a YouTube video?
Wentz "heads into Saturdays FCS title game against Illinois State on the heels of one of the greatest seasons in the history of Bison quarterbacks," Kolpack wrote.
I can't argue with anything Jeff wrote. But the name that kept popping into my head all season when trying to defend Wentz's play to a handful of local fans who told me the Bison were winning in spite of their quarterback was not Jensen, but Steve Walker.
During the 2007 season, Walker's senior year and the season prior to NDSU being eligible for the FCS playoffs, the Bison played a pretty good schedule (especially for a team that wasn't yet a member of the Missouri Valley Football Conference). Included were two FBS teams (Minnesota and Central Michigan) and some solid FCS competition.
As I recall, the storyline for a few of the games was the Bison's opposing QB: Rhett Bomar of Sam Houston State, Adam Weber of Minnesota and Dan LeFevour of Central Michigan. All went on to professional football careers of one sort or another.
And, as I recall, the stories written after the games were about how Walker had again outshone a more highly-touted quarterback.
After the Bison beat Sam Houston and Bomar 41-38 in a miracle finish at the Fargodome when Walker hit Kole Heckendorf on a 27-yard TD strike with 7 seconds left, NDSU offensive coordinator Pat Perles told me:
I know this: In the last minute of the game, I know who I want on my team. You might not see Steve in the NFL and youre going to see the other guy in the NFL but today, if you gave me the choice for the last play of the game, I want the guy wearing the green jersey.
It was the same time and again that season. We the media would pump up the opposing QB, and Walker would outplay him. The Bison would win.
I feel somewhat the same way with Wentz this season. The Bison have faced a litany of good QBs, but Wentz always seems to hold his own and -- with plenty of aid from the defense -- NDSU almost always wins.
For the season, Wentz is 213 of 336 passing with 24 TDs and 10 interceptions in 15 games. He's completed 63.4 percent of his passes. His passing efficiency is 152.9, better than Jensen's first two years as a starter and better than Walker's first two years as a starter. The young man from Bismarck has done just fine.
His team will play Saturday for the national title. Every other team except Illinois State will be watching.
The Redbirds have very highly-touted QB Tre Roberson, a transfer from FBS Indiana, leading the way as their difference-maker.
As we the media focus on Roberson and the Redbirds, the question needs to be asked:
Who would you rather have playing quarterback for you Saturday, Bison fans: Wentz or Roberson?
What say you?
(Mike McFeely is a talk-show host on 790 KFGO-AM in Fargo-Moorhead. He can be heard 2-5 p.m. weekdays. Follow him on Twitter @MikeMcFeely790)