Unless history starts in 1999, Teddy Morris has my vote. 3-time conference champion, left with touchdown pass record and averaged over 250 yards passing per game. That was a big number in the sixties. I
Agree with Glenn's rationale!!
Am very leery about throwing the "Greatest All Time QB, RB, WR, DT, S, CB, K, P, etc." title loosely for the very reason each player played in a different era. In a different era, it is very difficult to compare "apples to apples" regarding statistics such as yardage and touchdowns in passing and running departments. Schemes are different. Coaching philosophy is different. Opponents are different. Also, there are twelve regular season games today whereas some seasons just had ten.
In making such a judgment, I look at winning record and championships first. This is the team's ultimate goal and benchmark. Did this quarterback win in his career? What did he win? How consistent was the winning? Once those are answered, then we can go other superlatives and various statistics to differentiate the quality of play. To those with shorter exposure to our program, there is that natural tendency to be biased towards more recent accomplishments.
We have one bowl win in the FBS era, so therefore we proclaim the QB of the bowl as our best ever...No, that's not best ever material! Performance over a whole career is--sophomore, junior, and senior in particular, with time as freshman or 5th year senior considered the mix.
Thirty-two wins by Teddy Morris is still most wins by a QB at MT. That counts for a lot along with the championships won in '64 and '65. Being named "OVC Player of the Decade" by the
Nashville Banner is certainly a honor which can't be credibly overlooked.
Until MT starts being nationally ranked in football, winning at least one outright conference championship, going 11-2, 11-1, 12-1, 13-1, 12-0, or 13-0 in a season and building on multiple bowl wins in consecutive years can we begin talking about someone else as all time greatest QB at MT. That discussion really should be closed until then. No matter how many "video game yards" and touchdowns are accrued, it means precious little unless championships or bowls are won--unless an NFL scout considers the player for the draft or a combine invitation for that player to continue their career.
If we are looking at the FBS era as our body of work, our accomplishments are quite unspectacular. MT has a few modestly difficult winning seasons and a couple of co-championships, at least 11 years in the rear view mirror. Our conference peers of Marshall, Western Kentucky, Louisiana Tech, Southern Mississippi have each been ranked in AP Top 25 since our move to "1-A" and have won conference championships in C-USA or other conferences they've been in since 1999. Also, La Tech beat a Top 25 team in #25 Navy on December 23, 2016. We on the other hand lost our bowl game by allowing 52 points to a 6-7 Hawaii team, who became 7-7.
Think Brent has a slim opportunity window to be considered THE greatest. But, to do so he has to have an outstanding two years with outright championships and being ranked in the AP and Coaches Poll. Most likely, the yards and other superlatives will be there as support if that is done.
