Good point, BF.
Here are Campbell's numbers from 2003 in the first three games:
44/78 for 531 yards. 2 touchdowns, 2 interceptions.
Here are Jeremy Johnson's:
43/72 for 473 yards. 5 touchdowns. 6 interceptions.
A few notes:
1. For one, this goes along with what I've been preaching the last two days. We had a dysfunctional offense in 2003. But because our program was built to produce hard hitting, fundamentally sound defenses, we were able to get our offense straight and go on to upset two top ten teams (@Arkansas and Tennessee) and nearly beat SECW Co-Champ (they have a banner, you know) Ole Miss.
The defense through the first three games of 2003 (total yards given up each game):
315
251
221
The defense through the first three games of 2015:
405
438
485
In fact, the 2003 defense never once gave up over 400 yards. Perhaps as Wes stated, offenses are just that much more dynamic and hard to defend. Still though, the defense was stout in 2003 and allowed Campbell to have time to progress until he was good enough to be the QB of 2004 and go on to have a long, successful NFL career.
2. Did Campbell ever throw the ball backwards? No? Case closed.
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