I'll never understand head to head comparisons (which are common in game - or position battle - previews). They don't face each other and usually face very different opposition. Cook was playing the worst secondary in my lifetime. Braxton was playing the best secondary anywhere in years (and an exceptionally rare one in this era). He came up 60 yds short of Cook.
Also, are you really arguing that Miller's Michigan performance is counted among his bad performances? He had 286 yds & 5 tds and his running mate had 226 yds. Meanwhile I think Devin just completed another tunnel screen.
There was 1 reliable WR last year (and not in the last 2 games as he wasn't healthy). He had to play out of position to give them a little bit of production at the H position, where he was adequate. Dontre was a decoy and a major liability when he did not get the ball. Dontre is way ahead of his former self and Jalin is on another level from any 2013 counterpart you wish to align him with.
There is no comparison between the two groups of playmakers. It's not enough to explain away Braxton's struggles but then that sentence also applies to JT against VT.
He's done that once, and it was a shocking reversal from the youngster we saw in Happy Valley. It was also the first game I've seen him hit the deep ball in stride. It was also a rare occurrence of a well rounded, consistent effort from Devin Smith when it came to the little things.
Let's hope he does that every week, but until he does, I'm not about to write off the most explosive QB in america.
IF he does keep playing that way, then you have an incredibly dynamic package QB, simultaneously limiting the hits on JT and the injury prone Braxton.
I wouldn't say it's bad, but it highlights something. It's also a misnomer to count stats for the QB position like that. Running yards are always nice, but they simply are not what's needed from the QB position. There's a stable of running backs (last year and this) that will get the yards on the ground. Last year, almost every press conference post-game featured Urban talking about how we needed to be more balanced. Why do you think that was? I ignored it most of the year b/c Hyde and Brax were monsters and scarlet-tinted glasses.. but it eventually caught up with us and Urban proved prophetic.
6/15 133yds 2 TD 1 Int
8/21 101yds 1 TD
16/24 234yds 2 TD 2 Int
I don't really like having this discussion b/c it sounds like placing blame on Brax when the issues in those 3 games was definitively the defense and he played with all the heart in the world. Nonetheless, it's a discussion worth having.
Against the likes of sanctioned PSU, Iowa, Purdue, etc. a gifted running QB that doesn't hold anything back will be more than sufficient.
Against elite teams, you need a QB that can get it to his surrounding cast. I think you put too much blame for that on the receivers themselves - I also think some of us have put too much blame on Herman when he probably had a better idea of Brax can/cannot do than any of us. Vannett, Heuerman, Smith, Spencer did not have revelations over the Summer. Thomas for Philly is basically a wash. Swapping Hyde for Eze+Samuel, Wilson for Wilson 2.0+Marshall... there is some talent lost and some talent gained. Overall gain, but not nearly as much as you try to make out. The core group is not significantly different.
And it showed on the field.
Again, consider what MSU did to us. What they did to Nebraska's 2-headed monster of Armstrong+Abdullah. What they almost did to Mariotta (who actually is the most electric QB in the country for my money) - until he beat them with his arm 17/28 318yds 3TD.
Do those numbers look a little familiar to 16/26 300yds 3TD?
I love Braxton, but I'm not going to lie to myself and pretend he would've thrown for 300 yards on Saturday. Would he have got 350+ yds total offense? Probably... but MSU would've been able to stack the box and I don't think we have the lead going into half time or able to overcome all that bad stuff (penalties, missed FG, fumbles, dropped int, etc.)