Boston College QB Dave Shinskie Had Below Zero Passer Rating

Boston College quarterback Dave Shinskie accomplished something extraordinary on Saturday against Virginia Tech: In the Eagles' 48-14 loss to the Hokies, Shinskie had more interceptions than complete passes, and he finished the game with an almost unheard of negative passer rating.

Shinskie's final numbers were 1-of-12 for 4 yards, with 0 touchdowns and 2 interceptions. According to The Wiz of Odds and CFBstats.com, that equates to a pass-efficiency rating of minus-22.20, the worst rating in at least the last five seasons of college football for a player with 10 or more passes in a game.

In the NFL, passer ratings don't go below zero, but college football uses a different formula for computing passer rating, and negative ratings are possible, even if they hardly ever happen. Prior to Shinskie's awful day on Saturday, the lowest passer rating of the 2009 college football season was a 10.43 posted by Texas El Paso quarterback Trevor Vittatoe, who went 7-of-21 for 38 yards, 0 touchdowns and 4 interceptions in a 64-7 loss to Texas on Sept. 26.

Shinskie is one of college football's most interesting stories, a 25-year-old freshman who returned to football this year after leaving a minor league baseball career behind. I'm betting he missed baseball on Saturday.