Washington vs Stanford: Keith Price or Kevin Hogan Better QB?

Joe Nicholson – USA TODAY Sports

The quarterback play in the Pac 12 has been excellent so far this season, as the conference boasts some of the premier field generals and prolific passers in all of college football. Two of the best will square off this Saturday when the Washington Huskies, led by Keith Price, travel to Palo Alto to take on the Stanford Cardinal and Kevin Hogan. Both quarterbacks have been superb so far this season in leading their teams to perfect records but if you had to choose one of them, who would it be?

The good news is that either one would be a great choice. The bad news is that they’re both so good that choosing between them will be difficult. The thing that sets them apart from other quarterbacks is their sound decision making demonstrated by the pair sitting No. 1 (Hogan, 174.58) and No. 2 (Price, 173.57) in the Pac 12 for quarterback rating. They’re separated by just 1.01 points while the next highest rating belongs to Sean Mannion (165.89), almost eight points behind.

Price has an edge with his experience and his accuracy. He leads all Pac 12 quarterbacks with his 72.3 completion percentage as he has led the Huskies’ new up-tempo offensive attack. He’s been able to recapture his confidence under center during his senior campaign and is making good, quick decisions with the football. So far this season, he’s only thrown two interceptions and found the endzone nine times as he has helped make Washington the No. 4 ranked offense in the country (second in the Pac 12 only to the Oregon Ducks) averaging 574 yards per game.

Hogan, on the other hand, has just gotten it done where it matters most; on the scoreboard. Since taking over as the starter in the middle of last season, the sophomore QB is a perfect 9-0. While David Shaw has opened up the offense a bit this season, showcased by Hogan’s career day against the Washington State Cougars last week, Stanford is still a run-oriented offense that will take the air out of the ball when protecting a lead. Hogan has attempted a conference-low 87 passes this season, but he’s making them count with 10 touchdowns and an average of 208 yards per game.

This week, both of them will face their toughest defensive challenge of the season. Each will have to continue their intelligent play and lead their offenses to whatever points are available against physical defensive fronts that are looking to keep scoring to an absolute minimum. Price and Hogan have the ability to lead their teams to greatness, but only one of them can come out on top this Saturday.

Price vs Hogan: who you got?

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Join Kris Hughes and Tyler Brett for even more analysis of the Washington/Stanford matchup live on the Google + College Football Pregame Rant this Saturday at 10 am Pacific time live online! We’ll be picking two fans — one from each team — to tell us why their team will win and add to a lively discussion on what we see as each team’s keys to victory. Join us!

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