Tar Heels Football: Why isn’t Mitch Trubisky getting any love?

The new kid on the block is none other than Mitch Trubisky.

As a junior, he became the full-time starting quarterback for the North Carolina Tar Heels. During his first two seasons at North Carolina, Trubisky backed up Marquise Williams who has graduated from UNC.

Despite being a junior, Trubisky did not have a great deal of starts at quarterback. In his sophomore season, Trubisky replaced Williams at quarterback against Delaware and lit them up for 312 yards and four touchdowns.

His quarterback rating against Delaware was 282, which broke the UNC school record of 263 held by Jason Stanicek. That one game versus Delaware was a prelude to the future, which is now.

In the ACC and on a national scale, Clemson quarterback Deshaun Watson and Louisville quarterback Lamar Jackson receive a great deal of publicity and rightfully so. Their combination of athleticism and passing ability makes them household names.

Mitch Trubisky is not a household name; yet. He does not get as much exposure and publicity as Watson and Jackson, though he is just as good or better (in some areas) as both of them.

For example, Deshaun Watson has completed 110 of 181 passes for 1302 yards with 14 touchdowns and seven interceptions. This season, Lamar Jackson has completed 101 of 170 passes for 1625 yards with 14 touchdowns and four interceptions. Mitch Trubisky ranks second in the ACC in passing yards with 1711. Trubisky has completed 133 of 175 passes with 13 touchdowns and no interceptions.

As rushers, Watson has 49 carries for 211 yards and no touchdowns. Jackson has rushed 92 times for 688 yards and 14 touchdowns. Jackson leads the ACC in rushing yards. Trubisky has 31 carries for 58 yards and four touchdowns.

You can draw several conclusions from these statistics. Jackson runs the ball just as much as he throws the ball. He is the best rusher out of this trio of quarterbacks.

On the other hand, Trubisky has the highest quarterback rating out of all three quarterbacks (Trubisky-182.6, Watson-139, Jackson-162.2). Likewise, Trubisky has the highest pass completion percentage out of all three (Trubisky-76%, Watson-60.8%, Jackson-59.4%).

You could make a valid argument that Trubisky is the best pure quarterback of all three of them. He completes more of his pass attempts and his quarterback rating is higher than Watson’s or Jackson’s.

Although Trubisky has run for more touchdowns than Watson this season, he has lesser amount of rushing touchdowns compared to Jackson.

In addition, he has not thrown an interception in nearly 200 pass attempts. North Carolina has played good teams in Georgia, Pittsburgh and Florida State.

Do not underestimate Trubisky’s feat of not throwing an interception this season to date.

Moreover, consider Trubisky’s high completion percentage which is close to 80% along with throwing no interceptions. Watson and Jackson have extraordinary skill sets as football players, but so does Trubisky. He has proven through five games that he represents another elite quarterback in the ACC and NCAA.

Trubisky’s completion percentage ranks first in the nation. Also, Trubisky leads the nation in touchdown to interception ratio along with ranking sixth in passing yards and seven in yards per attempt.

Some people may argue that all three quarterbacks are different or that they do not play the same teams. These are moot points. Although that may be true, all three quarterbacks play in the same conference (ACC) at the same level (NCAA). These things make for a good comparison of all three.

In my opinion, Trubisky does not get a lot of love because he plays for the North Carolina Tar Heels.

The stigma of UNC being a ‘basketball school’ and not a ‘football school’ places Trubisky at a disadvantage. Clemson is known as a powerhouse in college football. They played in the national championship last season.

Louisville has had good teams over the years. Though, they are not a powerhouse, Louisville gets more respect in football than North Carolina does.

Numbers don’t lie and this is definitely true in this case. Trubisky deserves more respect as a quarterback along with Heisman Trophy consideration and all-ACC consideration. Do not be surprised if Watson or Jackson are not named as an all-conference player at the end of the 2016 season.

Only two quarterbacks can be chosen. Trubisky’s hot streak this season cannot and should be ignored by anyone.