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The excellent R.J. Aneytia of The Bootleg recently explained why Stanford fans should be encourage by the way senior QB Kevin Hogan finished off the 2014 season. Moreover, Aneytia shows that Hogan's final three games were just as good as USC's Cody Kessler's. You know, that Trojan who's getting all the Heisman buzz.
Aneytia details how Hogan was actually better than Kessler over the final three games in certain categories such as completion percentage, interceptions and yards per attempt. The full chart can be found here.
Here are Aneytia's full comments:
"Much of my conviction that Stanford is going to be a vastly better offense in 2015 rests upon the premise that Kevin Hogan is ready for a stellar season senior season at quarterback. Hogan took numerous shots from fans and press for much of the 2014 season, but it's hard not to factor in the grave personal issues he faced when looking at his performance. Who among us would have been at their best under the same circumstances?
On a hunch, I looked up the numbers for the Trojans' ballyhooed Bakersfield Bandit, and isn't it interesting how similar they were to close the season? I mention this not to disparage Kessler, who is excellent and worthy of the Heisman hype he's getting, but to give some context to just how much better Hogan was to end the season. And lest we argue that the competition was varied, consider that both players played UCLA in the Rose Bowl to close out the season. Yes, Kessler destroyed a Notre Dame defense that stymied Hogan, but Hogan played Notre Dame on the road in a monsoon, while Kessler got them in the Coliseum sunshine after they'd sustained a number of personnel losses on defense. Clearly, Kessler did a lot more throwing, but at the end of the day Hogan was at least as efficient and effective as Kessler was to close out 2014.
This is not to say that Hogan has to be as great as Kessler this year for Stanford to succeed, but he does need to be great. Like, last three games of the year great. Certainly he's going to have to match or outplay Kessler on September 19 in the Coliseum, and these numbers strongly suggest it's not out of the realm of possibility that Hogan is up to the job. When you factor in the insane amount of talent he's got running routes for him from all three receiving positions, the table is certainly set for Hogan to feast on opposing defenses this season."
(h/t The Bootleg)
Photo Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports
