Kiffin Compares Crompton to Palmer… Is He Right?
September 16th, 2009 ║ Posted By: John Pennington ║ Permalink ║ Tags: Tennessee
In defense of his quarterback yesterday, Lane Kiffin compared the heat Jonathan Crompton is getting with the heat Carson Palmer received at Southern Cal.
Kiffin referred to Palmer’s 2001 season, his first under Pete Carroll.
“(Palmer) had a really, really poor season. He got beat up a lot because the expectations, like Jonathan, were so high on him. The difference was there’s not so much attention at SC, especially at that time with the football program like there is here. He didn’t have to deal with it like Jonathan does on an hourly basis around here.”
Well, let’s go to the numbers. Below you’ll find Palmer’s stats from 2000 and 2001 (the season Kiffin referred to) alongside the combined numbers of Crompton (from 2008 and the Volunteers’ two games this year):
| Quarterback |
Year |
Comp. |
Att. |
Pct. |
Yds |
TD |
Int |
| C. Palmer |
2000 |
228 |
415 |
54.9 |
2914 |
16 |
18 |
| C. Palmer |
2001 |
206 |
351 |
58.7 |
2567 |
13 |
12 |
| J. Crompton |
2008-2009 |
120 |
221 |
54.2 |
1215 |
9 |
10 |
For kicks, let’s pro-rate Crompton’s numbers over 351 pass attempts, like Palmer’s 2001 season:
| J. Crompton |
pro-rated |
190 |
351 |
54.2 |
1986 |
14 |
16 |
I still don’t know that I’d put Crompton in Palmer’s category, but for those fans who laughed at Kiffin’s comparison… the numbers suggest his point was well made.
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