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Stock Watch: Desmond Ridder, Brennan Armstrong make some noise

Week 7 of the college football season had a few surprises for fans. While unbeaten Georgia handled business against the previously-unbeaten Kentucky Wildcats, the number-two team in the nation fell at home in a shocker. Texas continued to struggle, losing at home to Oklahoma Stat, and LSU perhaps saved Ed Ogeron’s job, at least for the moment.

As always, here at Stock Watch we recap the quarterback play with an eye towards the future. What QB’s helped their draft stock on Saturday, who needs to do some work over their bye week, and what passer saw his stock frozen due to a lineup change? We’ll dive into that and more in this week’s installment of Stock Watch.

Stock Up: Desmond Ridder, Cincinnati

We have not done a deep dive into Cincinnati quarterback Desmond Ridder yet this season, which is odd for two reasons. First, Ridder had a chance to be the quarterback to bridge the top five and the rest of the class in last year’s draft, had he decided to leave school. Instead he returned to Cincinnati to make another run with the Bearcats. Second, when you are the starting quarterback for one of the top teams in the nation, you tend to generate some buzz.

Ridder’s performance in Cincinnati’s win over UCF was the kind of workman-like outing that in many ways encapsulates his season to date. He completed 13 of 23 passes for 140 yards and a touchdown, not overly impressive but yet he and Cincinnati keep winning. Ridder’s scoring strike on Saturday, however, was impressive:

Most importantly, the Bearcats are 6-0 and looking at the rest of their schedule, an unbeaten regular season is certainly within reach. That will certainly generate some attention come winter, and beyond.

Stock Up: Brennan Armstrong, Virginia

(Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports)

Virginia quarterback Brennan Armstrong entered Saturday’s game against Duke with a solid resume to his name. But his performance against the Blue Devils kicked that resume up a notch. The junior passer completed 25 of 45 passes for 364 yards and a pair of touchdowns in a 48-0 route at home.

His best throw of the day was perhaps this vertical shot early in the second quarter to get the Cavaliers into the end zone for the first time of the afternoon:

Armstrong sees the free play opportunity, and makes Duke pay with a perfectly-placed ball into the back of the end zone.

Thanks to the ACC Network, you can also take a look at some of the other plays the junior QB made on the day:

Armstrong’s never say die attitude, that was on display in a comeback against Louisville earlier this season, can be summed up with these words: “Why would you quit?” In a brilliant piece from Trevor Sikkema from Pro Football Focus, the junior QB talked about that comeback and had this to say:

No matter how ugly it is for the people that are out there seeing it, they don’t see the stuff that you put in. I just feel like no matter what the outside people think or what they see. You can’t quit on yourself because you did all that stuff behind the scenes.

It’s like you’re basically quitting on yourself regardless of what the people are seeing right now. So, I don’t like quitting on yourself when you’ve done all this work, and you’re just gonna quit? I don’t know, it doesn’t add up to me. I just don’t like quitting on yourself or your team.

That attitude might pay off in the short-term for Virginia, and in the long-term for Armstrong as he thinks about the next level.

Stock Steady: Kenny Pickett, Pittsburgh

(Reinhold Matay-USA TODAY Sports)

The Pittsburgh Panthers moved into the biggest stretch of their season on Saturday, with a visit to Blacksburg to take on Virginia Tech. Quarterback Kenny Pickett, who has been one of the biggest stories of the college football season, continued his stretch of great play with another solid performance.

Pickett completed 22 of 37 passes for 203 yards and a pair of touchdowns, the first one coming on this throw down in the red zone:

Pickett reads out the double-slant/flat concept, taking the easy throw to the flat for the score.

His second touchdown had a higher level of difficulty:

Now, the receiver is wide open, but Pickett has to feel the rush on this play, and he subtly slides in the pocket away from the looping defender coming on the stunt, and gets off the throw to take advantage of the coverage for the touchdown.

Pickett and the Panthers still have some big games coming up, including Clemson next week, and then both UNC and Virginia later in the season. But with what he has done to date, Pickett might have helped himself more than any other collegiate passer this year.

Stock Down: Spencer Petras, Iowa

Spencer Petras and the Iowa Hawkeyes rolled into Saturday’s tilt against the Purdue Boilermakers as the number-two team in the country.

That will change by the time the next set of rankings are released.

The Boilermakers went into Kinnick Stadium and knocked off the Hawkeyes by a final score of 24-7. Petras, who had enjoyed a solid season to this point, struggled against the Purdue defense. The junior passer threw four interceptions, three of those coming in the final four minutes of the game as the Hawkeyes tried to mount a late comeback.

Iowa is still in pretty good shape in the Big Ten West, but will need to take care of business coming out of next week’s bye. They’ll face back-to-back road games against Wisconsin and Northwestern, before hosting Minnesota. They’ll need Petras to right the ship quickly after Saturday’s difficult outing.

Stock Suspended: Spencer Rattler, Oklahoma

(Kevin Jairaj-USA TODAY Sports)

It is time to suspend trading when it comes to Spencer Rattler stock.

In a move that was widely-anticipated, head coach Lincoln Riley turned to Caleb Williams to get the start against TCU, leaving Rattler to don the hat and watch from the sidelines. The highly-regarded true freshman came out firing, hitting on his first eight passes and throwing a pair of touchdowns in the first half.

So where does that leave Rattler?

For now, on the sidelines. Waiting to see if the Sooners will need him at a later date. In all likelihood, Rattler will entertain the idea of transferring at the end of the season, and you can imagine what he could do say, in Oxford, when Matt Corral heads to the NFL next spring…

Until then, we’ll wait and see if Rattler has a redemptive arc to this story yet to play out in Norman.

Stock Steady: Matt Corral, Mississippi

Aside from Kenny Pickett, perhaps no other college quarterback has helped his draft stock more so far this year than Matt Corral. The Mississippi passer did it all on Saturday night, both with his arm and his legs as he led his team to a road win over Tennessee.

Perhaps the best way to sum up his night was a touchdown drive late in the third quarter, with Mississippi clinging to a five-point lead. On the possession the quarterback had three carries for 40 yards, and completed all three of his passes for 29 yards, the third of which was this touchdown to Dontario Drummond:

His first touchdown pass of the night was a thing of beauty, as he used a pump fake to help free wide receiver Dannis Jackson for his first career touchdown:

Now Corral did throw his first interception of the season, early in the fourth quarter on this play that gave the Volunteers life:

But when the game did finally come to an end — after a chaotic scene that saw Tennessee fans rain everything that they could down on the field to protest a spot on a fourth-down play — Corral finished the night having completed 21 of 38 passes for 231 yards, the two touchdowns and the interception. He also finished as Mississippi’s leading rusher, gaining 195 yards on 30 carries.

Keep your eyes on early November, when Mississippi hosts Liberty and another passer vying for that QB1 title. Speaking of Mr. Willis…

Stock Shaky: Malik Willis, Liberty

(Reinhold Matay-USA TODAY Sports)

There is no denying the talent, but the past two weeks have not been the best of Malik Willis’ career. After throwing three interceptions in a win over Middle Tennessee State last week, Willis once again threw three interceptions on Saturday against Louisiana-Monroe.

This time his team did not come out on the winning side.

The third of the interceptions came on the final offensive play from Liberty, as Willis was picked off trying to get the Flames in position to perhaps tie the game with a field goal. The talented QB did throw for a touchdown, and added 157 rushing yards and two scores on the ground, but a third week with three interceptions is going to be noticed.

Thankfully for Willis and Liberty, they get winnable games each of the next two weeks (North Texas and Massachusetts) before traveling to Oxford to take on Matt Corral and Mississippi. That game will be a featured event for those interested in the QB1 discussion.

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