A year ago, it was generally agreed upon that no other game would feature as much quarterback talent on the sideline than WVU v. Louisville. In the atrocious gold-on-gold was Jarrett Brown, he of the triple-overtime, Gator Bowl-clinching win against Rutgers. In the red and white was Hunter Cantwell, he of the hold-off-Miami and then hold-it-together performance during Brian Brohm’s absence in 2006.

Well, Brown hasn’t had much of a shot this season and he’ll be judged, perhaps unfairly, for a while by that meager showing against Syracuse. Cantwell has been a turnover machine — 12 interceptions, six turnovers returned for scores and three more to set up touchdowns. His NFL potential remains, though, because Cantwell is a big guy with a big arm and experience in a pro-style offense. There seems to be plenty to build upon in the future.

As for the present, it should be noted he hasn’t had very much help.

Red 1:Ranking — among senior quarterbacks — of University of Louisville’s Hunter Cantwell in a list updated last Wednesday by NFLDraftScout.com. While it hasn’t been the season Cantwell had hoped for, his number of dropped passes unofficially passed the 40 mark in Friday’s loss to Cincinnati. He’s still projected by that site as a third-rounder.