Suddenly, they are everywhere. From Penn State to Florida State. From Georgia to Washington. From Purdue to Texas. From Virginia Tech to Southern Cal.
Quarterbacks are back.
Even Army has made the switch to the single back, multiple receiver offense and first-year coach Todd Berry has been busy recruiting guys who can throw and catch. Oh yes, quarterbacks are back.
The unofficial announcement came at the NFL Draft two years ago when Tim Couch, Daunte Culpepper, Donovan McNabb, Cade McNown, Shawn King and Akili Smith all went in the first round. It was regarded as the best quarterback draft since 1983 when Dan Marino, John Elway and Co. led the way.
From 1983 to 1999, the great quarterback was spotted sporadically – Troy Aikman, Brett Favre and Peyton Manning.
Then, like a species on the endangered wildlife list, QB’s began to thrive again. The fact is, offenses had no choice but to rediscover quarterbacks. Defenses were dominating the game.
“Fifteen years ago everyone was working out of the I-formation and running the toss sweep,” said Berry. “Then defenses started to compensate. You saw more men at the line of scrimmage. They started disguising coverages. Defenses got ahead of offenses, so something had to be done.”
Enter the quarterback, or more precisely, the athletic quarterback. Penn State’s Rashard Casey, Georgia’s Quincy Carter, Washington Marques Tuiasosopo, and Tech’s Michael Vick are all gifted passers who can use their running skills to turn a broken play into the broken heart of a defensive coordinator.
Florida State’s 28-year-old Chris Weinke opted to return for a senior season rather than enter the NFL Draft because he knew had to work on his mobility. The 240-pound Weinke has lost 20 pounds and improved his footspeed.
Quarterbacks such as Purdue’s Drew Brees, USC’s Carson Palmer and Chris Simms of Texas are more athletic than given credit for. Palmer, who will lead the Trojans against Penn State and Casey today in the Kickoff Classic at Giants Stadium, broke his collarbone, and shattered the Trojans dream of a Pac-10 title last year, on a scramble.
“I always felt like I was a player who played faster in a game,” said Simms, who runs a 4.7 and had 245 yards on 22 rushes last year in his freshman season at Texas.
Simms has a good chance of starting for the Longhorns this season for two reasons. The incumbent, Major Applewhite, is coming off reconstructive knee surgery and Simms is coming off a phenomenal spring game in which he completed 16-of-21 passes for 253 yards and four touchdowns.
The son of former Giants great Phil Simms, the 6-5 Simms has added some 20 pounds of muscle and now looks like an NFL prototype quarterback at 222 pounds. Applewhite, the Big 12 Freshman of the Year in 1998, is making a nice recovery.
In this quarterback crazy era the Simms-Applewhite combination is one reason The Post has tabbed Texas as the team that will win the national championship.
“If you told me that, you should not be one of the voters,” said Simms when informed of the Longhorns preseason No.1 ranking by The Post.
After explaining the dual-quarterback theory and the fact that Texas doesn’t play Big 12 powers Nebraska or Kansas State this season, Simms allowed for a little more validity for the No.1 ranking.
“It gives you validity but when it comes down to it, only one quarterback can be on the field,” said Simms. “Sure, we’re very talented and by the end of the season, when some of the younger players have gotten some experience, I wouldn’t be surprised to see us No. 1. But Nebraska, Florida State and Alabama are the three most talented teams in the country right now.”
The Cornhuskers were our national championship choice last year and they came up one loss shy (24-20 to Texas) of finishing No. 1. Nebraska is ranked third this year, one slot behind FSU, which plays in the weakest major football conference, the ACC.
Nebraska is loaded and in Eric Crouch, they have the perfect quarterback for their option system. Coach Frank Solich, aware that the times are changing, intends to open up the offense and include some passing plays to tight end Tracey Wistrom.
But if Crouch gets hurt, the Huskers would be in trouble. Last season they had enough trouble handling the ball, fumbling a school-record 49 times. They lost 25 of those fumbles.
FSU has a grand total of one tough road game, at Miami on Oct. 7. This will the ‘Canes best chance to beat FSU for this first time since 1994 and we think they’ll do it. FSU also has no QB insurance behind Weinke.
Alabama has two quarterbacks, Andrew Zow and Tyler Watts but neither are elite players. In fact, whereas Simms and Applewhite have developed a bond that strengthens Texas, the competition between Zow and Watts could undermine the Tide, which opens the season next week at UCLA.
“You know I’ve gotten to know Phil’s family and Major’s family and that’s the reason those two have gotten along so well,” said Texas coach Mack Brown. “Sometimes two quarterbacks can pull a team apart and sometimes they can make it stronger. They’ve made us stronger and each other better. Those two quarterbacks have probably gotten more national attention than any single quarterback.”
Any single quarterback accept Vick, that is. His 322 yards of total offense in last year’s Sugar Bowl game against FSU established Vick as the most exciting player in college football.
Quarterbacks have gotten too much of blame for losses and too much credit for wins. This year they’ll be the focus of the college football landscape.
Washington’s Tuiasosopo is the first player in Division I-A history to pass for 300 yards and rush for 200 in the same game. Georgia’s Carter has thrown for more yards (5,197) after two seasons than Marino, Elway or Manning.
The Dawgs could be a darkhorse for the national championship but they’ll have to get past Tennessee and Florida, who coach Jim Donnan is a combined 1-7 against. Donnan hired former Oklahoma coach Gary Gibbs to run the defense but the Dawgs will only go as far as Carter can take them.
“The game has changed so much over the last 10 years,” said Carter. “You have quarterbacks who are a lot faster and have a lot better mobility. But you have to learn to stay in the pocket as long as you can and only use your athleticism when a breaks down.”
“I’ve got to be honest with you, though,” continued Carter. “When you turn a negative play into a positive one, when the defense thinks they have you and they don’t, that’s a great feeling. You can take a beating playing quarterback. But we’re dealing out some pain, too.”
