Another week, another meaningless stat - snaps taken by QB in B10 megastadiums

[IUninethree]

The Big 10 has the three biggest football stadiums in the U.S.:

1. Michigan Stadium - 107,601
2. Beaver Stadium (PSU) - 106,572
3. Ohio Stadium - 105,944

The next biggest Big 10 field after those behemoths is Nebraska's Memorial Stadium, which holds 87,000. The biggest NFL stadium is AT&T Stadium in Dallas with a seating capacity of 85,000 (can hold up to 105,000 with standing room).

Due to the Big 10's scheduling quirks, IU has played in Michigan and Ohio Stadiums each of the past two seasons, but has not been to Penn State since 2012. Due to injury, QB shuffling, and other issues, Nate has not taken a lot of snaps in the giant stadiums. His numbers so far...

2012 vs PSU - 0 snaps taken, IU loses 45-22
2013 vs Michigan - 76 total offensive snaps, Nate takes 30. Final stats = 8/19/122/1/1. 1 rush for -12 yards. IU loses 63-47
2013 vs Ohio State - 92 total offensive snaps, Nate takes 75. Final stats = 25/41/224/2/0. 6 rushes for -21 yards. IU loses 42-14.

Of course Nate was injured before the Ohio State and Michigan games in 2014, so here are Zander's numbers in those games:

vs Michigan - 53 total offensive snaps, Zander takes 49. Final stats = 5/8/24/0/0. 7 Rushes for 49 yards. IU loses 34-10.
vs Ohio State - 63 total offensive snaps. Zander takes all. Final stats = 11/27/114/0/1. 6 Rushes for 42 yards. IU loses 42-27.

In short, in road games played in front of 100k+ fans, Zander has taken 112 snaps, Nate has taken 105. On paper, Zander is the more experienced QB in the B10 megastadiums. There's your meaningless stat of the week!

(Of course in the only stat that actually matters, Nate has the only win vs either of these three teams in the past three season. He was 23/38/321/2/1 against PSU in IU's 44-24 hone win over them in 2013. That game is arguably Nate's best single-game performance as a QB.)