Although highly touted quarterback Pat Devlin is long gone from Penn State, many of you have speculated about whether he or Daryll Clark was the better quarterback. While that might be moot at this point (based on which one led an FBS team to an 11-2 record), it is still worth a peek at Devlin’s performance as a University of Delaware Blue Hen.
UDel finished the 2009 season with a 6-5 record, but they and Devlin kicked off the year with a bang-up 35-0 win over West Chester, in which Devlin completed 80 percent of his passes, while throwing for two touchdowns and no interceptions. However, at the end of the season, things did not look so good. Delaware lost three of four games, and Devlin’s QB rating dropped to double digits. In his final outing of the year, a 30-12 loss to Villanova, Pat completed 42 of 58 passes for 407 yards and a touchdown, but he was intercepted three times.
Here are statistics for Clark and Devlin, side-by-side:
| Clark | Devlin | |
| Games played | 13 | 11 |
| QB Rating | 95.7 | 99.7 |
| Completions | 232 | 220 |
| Attempts | 381 | 344 |
| Percentage Complete | 60.9 | 64.0 |
| Yards Passing | 3003 | 2664 |
| Yards per Attempt | 7.9 | 7.7 |
| Yards per Game | 231 | 242.2 |
| Touchdowns Passing | 24 | 16 |
| Interceptions | 10 | 9 |
| Rushes | 84 | 84 |
| Yards Rushing | 211 | 127 |
| Yards per Game | 16.2 | 11.5 |
| Average Yards per Carry | 2.5 | 1.5 |
| Rushing Touchdowns | 7 | 4 |
| Sacks | 15 | 26 |
So, we see similar stats, with some exceptions colored green or red. Delaware no doubt had a worse offensive line than PSU, as evidenced by Devlin’s 26 sacks as opposed to 15 for Clark. This may also mean the Devlin is not as slippery in the pocket.
There are a lot of things going on behind the stats that affect them, including Joe Paterno’s penchant for going tight-ass in big games.
What do you think? It is difficult to predict how well Devlin might have performed as a Nittany Lion, in spite of stats. Can the arguments and the hypotheses be laid to rest at this point?
