Combined, they share 556 wins, 137 years of life experiences and 67 seasons of head coaching. Yet neither Lou Holtz nor Bobby Bowden can recall a crop of college quarterbacks better than this season’s.

There are household names with an early-season stronghold on the Heisman Trophy such as Florida’s Rex Grossman, Miami’s Ken Dorsey and Marshall’s Byron Leftwich. But this triumvirate is only the beginning, making the 20th anniversary of The Year of the Quarterback another such season.

Dare we suggest this is the best season ever for quantity of quality quarterbacks?

‘I’ve stated it is,’ Bowden, 72, said yesterday. ‘Gosh, look at the QBs down here at Miami, Florida, us, Central Florida. Now nationally, I guess it’s the same way.’

And you, Lou?

‘Oh yeah,’ said Holtz, 65. ‘The first thing I look at is the quarterbacks returning. And I look at (Tennessee’s Casey) Clausen, Grossman, (David) Greene at Georgia, Eli Manning. Then around the country there’s Dorsey, the young man from Marshall. I’ve never seen a year with so many outstanding quarterbacks. Now, I don’t know who will go on to the NFL to have careers like Marino and Elway.’

Dan Marino, John Elway and Jim Kelly, all current or future NFL Hall of Famers, played their final college seasons in 1982 and became three of the six QBs selected in the 1983 draft’s first round. To this day, that class ranks the foremost when a best-class-ever debate arises.

One such instance came in April 1999, when the top three picks were quarterbacks: Kentucky’s Tim Couch, Syracuse’s Donovan McNabb and Oregon’s Akili Smith. This season, four senior quarterbacks (Leftwich, Dorsey, Louisville’s Dave Ragone and Texas’ Chris Simms) could go in the first round. Leftwich and Ragone appear opening-round locks, as is Grossman if he leaves early.

But the list of top-rate passers winds on like the records they may set: Mississippi’s Manning, Iowa State’s Seneca Wallace, North Carolina State’s Philip Rivers, Texas Tech’s Kliff Kingsbury, Washington State’s Jason Gesser, etc.

Such talented players should even the field for their teams, such as unranked Iowa State.

‘The one we played last week nearly beat us,’ Bowden said of Wallace. ‘We were told by people who played against him that he will throw a lot better than you think he will. And sure enough, he did.’

The Big 12’s reigning Offensive Newcomer of the Year, Wallace went 22 of 33 for 313 yards and two touchdowns, leading the Cyclones within 38-31 of No. 5 Florida State in Kansas City, Mo. The man whose picture hung from the Eiffel Tower as part of a Heisman campaign was stopped at the FSU 1-yard line as time expired.

Manning could put up better career numbers than his brother, after whom a street (Peyton Manning Pass) is named in Knoxville, Tenn. Leftwich could throw for 4,000 more yards. Grossman could too. Ragone could be this season’s David Carr, the lesser-name player at a lesser-known program with the best NFL potential.

Times are a changin’

(bullet) Beginning this season, the NCAA will include bowl-game results in season statistics. Before, only regular-season totals counted. The result? More opportunities for record-setting seasons. Previous records will not be recalculated, however, so only current and future players benefit.

(bullet) This season — along with 2003, 2008, 2013, 2014 and 2019 — offers 14 playing dates compared to the usual 13. Three teams (Nebraska, Iowa State, Texas Tech) scheduled 14 games and, with a bowl appearance, could play 15. Most teams scheduled 12, up from 11.

“From a coaching standpoint, it doesn’t bother me,” Louisiana State’s Nick Saban said. “The concern comes from a player standpoint. These guys are student-athletes who go to school, and it’s a long season for them. It used to be early to play Sept. 7. Now teams are playing Aug. 25, and the SEC championship last year was Dec. 8.

“I feel from a players’-best-interest standpoint, an 11-game schedule is the right thing to do. The only reason for 12 games is financial.”

(bullet) Two notable rule revisions: Non-contact violations of the two-yard “halo” rule on kickoffs, previously a five-yard penalty, are now 10.

Secondly, experimental Rule 3-2-5-A, imposed in certain conferences only: A play ending inbounds that keeps the game clock running would commence a 45-second play clock, begun the moment the ball is ruled dead. If the game clock stops for an “administrative reason,” such as first downs, changes of possession or a penalty, a 25-second play clock would be used once the game clock begins again.

Last season, the rule called only for a 25-second clock, beginning when an official spotted the ball, which some did brutally slowly.

(bullet) Final tally on new Division I coaches is 13: Steve Roberts (Arkansas State), Jeff Tedford (California), Ron Zook (Florida), Chan Gailey (Georgia Tech), Gerry DiNardo (Indiana), Mark Mangino (Kansas), Ricky Bustle (Louisiana-Lafayette), Paul Johnson (Navy), Tyrone Willingham (Notre Dame), Tom Craft (San Diego State), Phil Bennett (SMU), Buddy Teevens (Stanford) and Bobby Johnson (Vanderbilt).

Coach on the hot seat: UCLA’s Bob Toledo, who is 17-17 his last three seasons.

Freshman of the Week

Maurice Clarett, RB, Ohio State

The 6-foot, 230-pound tailback did at 18 years old what Heisman Trophy winners Archie Griffin and Eddie George never did — start an Ohio State opener as a true freshman. Fans at the Ohio Stadium chanted “Mau-rice, Mau-rice” following Clarett’s 175-yard, three-touchdown baptism.

“I had seen so much of that before, I’m not totally shocked,” said Thom McDaniels, Clarett’s coach at Harding High in Warren, Ohio. “He was a man among boys in high school, and he is a man among other men in college. He is the best football player I’ve ever coached.”

McDaniels’ recent pupils include OSU safety Michael Doss, defensive tackle Kenny Peterson and Dallas Cowboys rookie fullback Jamar Martin.

In the 1980s, McDaniels coached linebacker Percy Snow and defensive back Garland Rivers. Snow finished eighth in the 1989 Heisman Trophy balloting, one place behind future NFL Hall of Famer Emmitt Smith. Rivers, an All-American at Michigan, played briefly in the NFL.

McDaniels’ first impression of Clarett, who went 230 pounds as a junior?

“It wasn’t a good one,” he said. “He missed a pregame meal because he didn’t think he needed to be there.”

McDaniels sat Clarett for two games, and the team lost one, 15-12, to eventual state champion Youngstown Ursland. Harding finished 7-3.

“We probably would have won that game with him,” McDaniels said. “All his life he had been patted on the back, and along comes this skinny guy telling him what to do to get better. We had a period of adjustment.”

Apparently, that refocused Clarett, who graduated a half-year early and enrolled at Ohio State.

“That was all part of a plan,” McDaniels said. “He had goals and a mission and was very driven.”

V.I. P. M.I.A.

(bullet) Kelley Washington, WR, Tennessee: Perhaps the nation’s best pass-catcher, the 23-year-old sophomore will miss Week 1 vs. Wyoming with a sprained right knee.

“The doctors are the ones who tell us whether they play or not,” said coach Phillip Fullmer, who lost his other prime wideout, Donte Stallworth, to the NFL. “That is the issue we’re dealing with now.”

(bullet) Taylor Stubblefield, WR, Purdue: Stubblefield (73 catches, 904 yards in 2001) fractured his skull July 4 and reportedly could return later this month.

(bullet) Lee Evans, WR, Wisconsin: Evans, one of the Big 10’s best wideouts, injured his knee in spring practice. He’s due back in late September.

Published on August 28, 2002 at 12:00 pm