ISU Football: Steele Jantz Should Remain at Quarterback

The Cyclones started off hot with a 14-0 lead over Western Illinois before everybody packed into Jack Trice Stadium on Saturday.

September 1, 2012; Ames, IA, USA; Iowa State Cyclones quarterback Steele Jantz (2) points out signals against the Western Illinois Leathernecks at Jack Trice Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Reese Strickland-US PRESSWIRE

One of the stories coming out of the eventual 37-3 victory is Steele Jantz continuing to commit turnovers, fumbling one and throwing a pick in his latest outing. His current ratio between touchdowns and interceptions is six to four, a slight improvement so far from finishing at 10 to 11 a season ago.

Still, the debate continues with ISU fans on whether the team should put in backups Jared Barnett or Sam Richardson at starting quarterback. Should Jantz be pulled once again from the starting job? Well, if the Cyclones want to win right now, they shouldn’t.

Jantz is already at 731 yards passing on the season and has greatly improved his completion percentage that now sits at 70.1 percent. Interceptions don’t seem to happen because of opening jitters. It’s due to Jantz still making some bad decisions, but he also makes those on some completions.

It’s the style that Jantz plays with. He’s a high risk, high reward quarterback. With his arm strength, he’s able to get it to his receivers more often than not. He looks comfortable with the high-speed offense and dumping the ball off on screens.

People are discounting what Jantz does well on the field and are just looking at interceptions. Yes, the number needs to come down, but right now head coach Paul Rhoads will take an interception a game from him if he continues to pass for over 200 yards a game, the running attack continues to pound opposing defenses well, and his own defense continues to wreak havoc and make it tough to score on.

Unless Jantz struggles heavily against Big 12 competition and can’t keep an up-tempo pace without making multiple mistakes, there is no reason to put in Barnett or Richardson if the Cyclones want to make a higher-tier bowl game.

Brian Spaen is the lead editor for Clones Confidential. Keep up with the latest sports fails and disdain toward the Big Ten by following him on Twitter.

Read his other work on the Oregon Ducks blog, Autzen Zoo, and Lacrosse the Web.