Can't tell QBs with a program
Running backs and wide receivers warrant attention in the fall, but during the offseason, quarterbacks are the story in college football. So we follow the bouncing quarterback, as one quarterback story leads to another.
We begin with the recent NFL draft and the Buffalo Bills' choice of Stanford's Trent Edwards in the third round, even though Stanford was 0-8 with him as a starter last year. Edwards' progress will be intriguing, because a quarterback from such a lousy college team rarely succeeds in the NFL. One notable exception is Johnny Unitas, whose Louisville team went 1-7 when he was a junior and 3-6 during his injury-marred senior season.
With Edwards gone and 2007 Stanford starter T.C. Ostrander a fifth-year senior, new Cardinal coach Jim Harbaugh is working hard to acquire quality quarterbacks for the future. Besides getting a transfer from Michigan (Jason Forcier, eligible in 2008), Harbaugh has, according to various recruiting trackers, offered scholarships to a half-dozen high school senior quarterbacks (two of whom have committed to other colleges) and has offered scholarships even to three high school quarterbacks entering their junior seasons. One of the prized juniors is Matt Barkley of Mater Dei (Calif.), who has been starting since he was a freshman and figures to be one of the nation's top prizes in 2009.
Cal also has offered a scholarship to Barkley, and the Bears already have received an oral commitment from a quarterback for 2008: Beau Sweeney of Clovis West High School, who is not yet rated among the nation's elite quarterbacks.
Meanwhile, the early competition for Barkley got hotter this month when USC reportedly offered him a scholarship as well.
The Trojans already have a bunch of top-flight quarterbacks. Waiting in the wings behind senior John David Booty is third-year sophomore Mark Sanchez, rated the No. 1 quarterback recruit in 2005 by scout.com, and Mitch Mustain, who was rated the No. 1 high school quarterback recruit in 2006 by scout.com and recently transferred to USC after starting eight games as a freshman at Arkansas. Mustain, who is eligible at USC in 2008, became the Hogs' starter after performing well in a mop-up role in the 50-14 loss to USC in the 2006 opener.
With John David Booty back (scout.com rated John David Booty the No. 1 quarterback recruit in 2003, by the way), the Trojans probably will be the nation's preseason No. 1 pick, and after their opener against Idaho, they will face Nebraska, whose quarterback could be the guy who nearly engineered an upset of USC two years ago. That would be Sam Keller, a transfer from Arizona State, who will compete with Joe Ganz for the Huskers' starting quarterback spot. The money here is on Keller.
Another Arizona State transfer, Max Hall, already has landed the starting spot at BYU, making him John Beck's successor. Keller, meanwhile, is part of an ever-changing quarterback landscape at Nebraska.
Harrison Beck, who started one game at Nebraska as a freshman, transferred to N.C. State in August and will vie for the starting job under new Wolfpack coach Tom O'Brien.
Joe Dailey, who left Nebraska after being the Huskers' starter in 2004, was North Carolina's No. 1 quarterback in 2006. Dailey has been switched to wide receiver under new Tar Heels coach Butch Davis, though, and led the team in receptions during the spring game.
Nebraska coach Bill Callahan added former City College of San Francisco and St. Ignatius quarterback Zac Lee, who has been slowed by offseason knee surgery, and recently got a commitment for 2008 from Blaine Gabbert of Bullwin, Mo., who is rated among the nation's top high school quarterbacks.
Another one of those elite high school quarterbacks is Dayne Crist of Sherman Oaks (Los Angeles County), who has committed to Notre Dame for 2008. Irish coach Charlie Weis already has the No. 1 high school quarterback from last season, Jimmy Clausen, who is still in the running to become Notre Dame's starting quarterback as a freshman. He participated in spring ball and held his own, and Weis was expected to narrow the four-player quarterback race to two candidates this week. That choice became more difficult when Demetrius Jones, a prime candidate to be Brady Quinn's successor, recently was arrested on misdemeanor marijuana-possession charges, although the charges later were dropped.
Charges have not been dropped against LSU's Ryan Perriloux, arrested recently for illegally entering a Baton Rouge, La., casino boat, causing coach Les Miles to suspend Perriloux indefinitely. Rated the nation's No. 2 high school quarterback recruit by scout.com in 2005, Perriloux was expected to back up Matt Flynn this season and possibly compete with Matt Flynn for the starting job vacated by Raiders top pick JaMarcus Russell.
The vacancy left at Ohio State by the departure of Heisman Trophy winner Troy Smith has not been filled. Fourth-year junior Todd Boeckman seems to be the leading candidate, but third-year sophomore Rob Schoenhoft apparently had a better spring game. Coach Jim Tressel has not made a choice and said three quarterbacks _ Boeckman, Schoenhoft and redshirt freshman Antonio Henton _ will play in the Buckeyes' season opener against Youngstown State.
Oregon seems to have ended the uncertainty about its quarterback situation, at least for now. Even though Dennis Dixon was replaced by Brady Leaf as the starter for the final two games of 2006, Dixon was the No. 1 quarterback throughout the recent spring practices.
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