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Texas Tech football: How Alan Bowman stacked up against other FR QBs in 2018

By Matthew Conner

LUBBOCK, TX - OCTOBER 20: Alan Bowman #10 of the Texas Tech Red Raiders calls signals at the line of scrimmage during the first half of the game against the Kansas Jayhawks on October 20, 2018 at Jones AT&T Stadium in Lubbock, Texas. (Photo by John Weast/Getty Images)
LUBBOCK, TX - OCTOBER 20: Alan Bowman #10 of the Texas Tech Red Raiders calls signals at the line of scrimmage during the first half of the game against the Kansas Jayhawks on October 20, 2018 at Jones AT&T Stadium in Lubbock, Texas. (Photo by John Weast/Getty Images) /
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(Photo by David Purdy/Getty Images)
(Photo by David Purdy/Getty Images) /

Iowa State’s Brock Purdy

One reason Bowman may not be getting as much preseason hype as we believe he should is the fact that he was not the unquestioned best freshman QB in his own conference last year.  Many believe that title belongs to Iowa State’s Brock Purdy.

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Starting ten games last fall, Purdy passed for 2,250 yards, 16 touchdowns, and 7 interceptions.  As you might have noticed, those numbers are rather similar to Bowman’s season stats.

Bowman surpassed him in yards per game 329.7-225, and touchdown passes per game 2.1-1.6.  But Purdy had the better yards per attempt (10.2 to 8.1) and quarterback rating (169.9 to 150).

Where the Cyclone sophomore might have the biggest advantage over Bowman is on the ground.  More of a dual-threat QB, Purdy ran for 308 yards and five touchdowns last year.  Of course, that aspect of his game also places him at a greater risk for taking the type of hit that Bowman sustained in the OU game.

It will be interesting to see how Purdy does as the unquestioned focal point of the offense in Ames this year.   Last year, he had arguably the best running back in the conference in David Montgomery and one of the top receivers in all of college football in Hakeem Butler to make his life easier as a true freshman.

Certainly, Bowman would have enjoyed having a player next to him in the backfield that ran for over 1,200 yards like Montgomery did for ISU.  But both Bowman and Purdy have to replace their top receivers from last year in Butler and Antoine Wesley respectively, each of which helped their freshmen QBs out tremendously last season by making tons of difficult catches down the field.

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Whether one thinks Bowman or Purdy is the better QB likely depends on whether their address is in Iowa or Texas.   But there’s every reason to believe that this QB duo will be the cream of the Big 12 crop for the foreseeable future.

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