AUBURN | Quarterbacks have flourished under Bryan Harsin at Boise State, especially when it comes to efficiency ratings.

In seven seasons as the Broncos head coach, Harsin only had one quarterback finish with a quarterback rating below 140 and that was this season, which was limited to seven games due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

In contrast, Auburn’s had four starting quarterbacks with efficiency ratings over 140 in Gus Malzahn's eight seasons.

Malzahn’s top-rated quarterbacks were Nick Marshall in 2014 with a 151.09 rating and Jarrett Stidham in 2017 with a 150.99. Harsin had three seasons with quarterback ratings above 150 including Grant Hendricks in 2014 (157.20), and Brett Rypien in 2016 (155.70) and 2018 (155.98).

Rypien, the nephew of Mark Rypien, is currently with the Denver Broncos where he started one game this season.

Harsin’s offense was also more productive through the air. In seven seasons, his quarterbacks combined to complete 64.3 percent of their passes for 24,666 yards with 179 touchdowns and 64 interceptions.

In eight seasons at Auburn encompassing 15 additional games, Malzahn’s quarterbacks combined to complete 61.1 percent of their passes for 20,845 yards with 139 touchdowns and 57 interceptions.

Harsin’s quarterbacks averaged 280.3 passing yards, 2.0 passing touchdowns and 0.7 interceptions per game. Malzahn’s averaged 202.4 passing yards, 1.3 passing touchdowns and 0.6 interceptions per game.

Overall, Harsin’s quarterbacks averaged a 149.38 passing efficiency rating while Auburn’s averaged 138.96. Comparing that to the final 2019 season ratings, Boise State’s quarterbacks would rank 23rd nationally while Auburns would be 54th.