Arnaud vs. Meyer

**San Francisco Cy** · 11-22-2008, 08:59 PM

I was just checking out Arnaud's stats for the season, and they are pretty similar to Meyer's, when he was a sophomore. Arnaud ran a lot more and had much more success doing so, including 5 TD's. Meyer threw a few more TD's, but both ended up accounting for 20 TD's. Otherwise, their percentage and yardage was pretty much the same.

The question is what will happen next season for Aranaud. Meyer's production and effectiveness drastically decreased his junior season. We can't afford for Arnaud to go through the same slump. Especially if our D isn't greatly improved. Here are the numbers:

Meyer - 227-368 (61.7%) 2876 Yds 19 TD, 10 INT, 123 yards Rushing, 1 TD
Arnaud - 247-401 (61.6%) 2792 Yds, 15 TD, 10 INT, 511 yards Rushing, 5 TD's

**ISUclones33** · 11-22-2008, 09:04 PM

Meyer had a few more wins.... Lets hope Austen keeps progressing rather than plateauing like Bret

**cowboycurtis** · 11-22-2008, 09:05 PM

No way Arnaud slows down. The talent around him is much better and should improve and he should improve with them.

**Drive4cy** · 11-22-2008, 09:05 PM

Yeah, I think in this case the stats don't lie. I feel like they are similar talents. Now can Arnaud take the next step that Meyer couldn't take? we'll see. I feel like Arnaud has more upside but he hasn't proven he's better than Meyer yet IMO. Arnaod locks on to WR's at times but as a first year starter that's normal.

**cowboycurtis** · 11-22-2008, 09:10 PM

Originally Posted by Drive4cy

Yeah, I think in this case the stats don't lie. I feel like they are similar talents. Now can Arnaud take the next step that Meyer couldn't take? we'll see. I feel like Arnaud has more upside but he hasn't proven he's better than Meyer yet IMO. Arnaod locks on to WR's at times but as a first year starter that's normal.

Arnaud has better touch on his deep ball and scans his receivers much better, IMO.

**mplscyclone** · 11-22-2008, 09:15 PM

I think what a lot of this shows is what happens when things start going bad. I think Arnaud sometimes (especially this game) trys to "make it happen" when things are going bad. I like that competitiveness in a player.

What I feel like with Arnaud is that he doesn't want to lose. It came off to me like Meyer at times either gave up or was content with losing. Now, perhaps I just have a negative perception about Meyer due to his last couple of years.

**cowboycurtis** · 11-22-2008, 09:22 PM

I like arnaud alot but 3 or 4 of his picks looked like he threw to the defender on purpose. Right in the guys chest. I am not sure what he is thinking on some of those throws but hopefully those throws become few and far between as he gets older.

**Al_4_State** · 11-22-2008, 09:24 PM

Originally Posted by Drive4cy

Yeah, I think in this case the stats don't lie. I feel like they are similar talents. Now can Arnaud take the next step that Meyer couldn't take? we'll see. I feel like Arnaud has more upside but he hasn't proven he's better than Meyer yet IMO. Arnaod locks on to WR's at times but as a first year starter that's normal.

Disagree 100%. Arnaud is playing behind a worse line than Meyer was as a sophomore, he reads the field better, has a bigger arm, better touch on the deep ball, and has show the consistent ability to drive the field late in the game. If we had the defense Meyer had in 2005, we would be going to a bowl, easily. Arnaud has done more himself to win than Meyer did, but we had a solid defense that year, and those wins aren't really Meyer v. Arnaud.

**ISU_Alum_2000** · 11-22-2008, 09:26 PM

Originally Posted by cowboycurtis

I like arnaud alot but 3 or 4 of his picks looked like he threw to the defender on purpose. Right in the guys chest. I am not sure what he is thinking on some of those throws but hopefully those throws become few and far between as he gets older.

I affectionately refer to these as "Arnaud Brain-lock" plays. He usually has about 2-4 of these each game. The first obvious one (that I remember) was the attempted screen pass against Kansas.

Overall, I think Arnaud had a wonderful sophomore year. Unfortunately, a couple Arnaud Brain-lock plays each game seems to equal out most of his good play.

**San Francisco Cy** · 11-22-2008, 09:30 PM

Originally Posted by ISUclones33

Meyer had a few more wins.... Lets hope Austen keeps progressing rather than plateauing like Bret

You'd have to agree that Meyer had a much better defense behind him that season than did Austen this season.

**San Francisco Cy** · 11-22-2008, 09:32 PM

Originally Posted by ISU_Alum_2000

I affectionately refer to these as "Arnaud Brain-lock" plays. He usually has about 2-4 of these each game. The first obvious one (that I remember) was the attempted screen pass against Kansas.

Overall, I think Arnaud had a wonderful sophomore year. Unfortunately, a couple Arnaud Brain-lock plays each game seems to equal out most of his good play.

Meyer was famous (in my circles, at least) for doing that early on in his career. It was always pretty apparent where he was going with the football. I think that's more of a young QB thing than an Arnaud thing...

**kingcy** · 11-22-2008, 09:43 PM

Arnaud has better natural QB instincts and tools than Meyer.

**Drive4cy** · 11-22-2008, 09:52 PM

Originally Posted by AnkenyCy24

You'd have to agree that Meyer had a much better defense behind him that season than did Austen this season.

Very true but you would have to admit Meyer faced better defenses than Arnaud has to this point. Bret had to play OU, Texas, etc twice when they had top level defenses. Who's the best defense Arnaud has seen this year? Iowa or Oklahoma State?

He should have good stats this year and he did. I really like AA's instincts when it comes to pulling it down and running. He's not overly quick but he knows where he wants to go and decides quickly.

**ISUAlum2002** · 11-22-2008, 09:54 PM

Its interesting that Austen's yardage stats are that close to Meyer's and even below. It feels and seems like Austen has thrown for a lot more yards than Meyer ever did in a single season.....but maybe there was a game or two (Baylor comes to mind, for sure) where Austen wasn't able to chuck it around as much and that hurt his totals.

I mean, 440 yards today through the air and over 300 last week.....

Our offense can move the ball. Seriously, just imagine what kind of offensive stats they'd be able to rack up if the defense could get them another few possessions a game.

The concerning thing is getting 440 passing yards today and only amassing 30 points.

**ISUAlum2002** · 11-22-2008, 09:56 PM

Originally Posted by AnkenyCy24

Meyer was famous (in my circles, at least) for doing that early on in his career. It was always pretty apparent where he was going with the football. I think that's more of a young QB thing than an Arnaud thing...

There had been rumors that the coaching staff would separate the field into three sections (middle and outside the numbers on each side) and would only allow him to look and throw to one section of the field during any one given play. Thus the need for checking down was pretty much gone.

Who knows.