College quarterbacks putting up big statistics

David Cutcliffe is the first-year coach at Duke, and when he talks about quarterbacks, we should listen. At Tennessee, he was offensive coordinator for Peyton Manning, and as head coach at Mississippi, he coached Eli Manning.

"Right now, I'm looking at a young kid that I think is a great player," Cutcliffe said earlier this week. "He can spin it [throw it] better than anybody I've ever seen. If I get a chance to sign him, I'm going to."

The prospect is 5 feet 10, which makes a point about today's quarterbacks in a college game notable for its offensive variety — the guys playing the most important position in the game are coming in all shapes and sizes, and not always of the most purebred, five-star recruiting backgrounds.

And this year, they're putting up some vertigo-inducing numbers.

"People are putting their best athletes at quarterback," Cutcliffe says. "Used to be, you'd have a big, pro-style quarterback, and a great athlete at tailback. Now you're starting to see that kid that was a tailback playing quarterback."

Seemingly, good quarterbacks are everywhere this year — well, except the Pac-10 — and although the spread-option offense is all the rage, they can't really be pigeonholed.

The Big 12 has the Nos. 2-4 leaders in national pass efficiency in Oklahoma's Sam Bradford, Texas' Colt McCoy and Missouri's Chase Daniel, all completing more than 75 percent of their throws. It's the most quarterback-heavy the league has ever been, with talents like Zac Robinson of Oklahoma State, Baylor freshman Robert Griffin, Kansas' Todd Reesing and Texas Tech's Graham Harrell.

"You knew this was coming a couple of years ago," Missouri coach Gary Pinkel said. "You saw these young quarterbacks coming out. Our offenses are very wide-open and attacking here."

Reesing is only 5-11 (maybe) and Daniel is 6 feet (perhaps). You wonder whether, 15 or 20 years ago, they'd have gotten a scholarship at a major school.

Coaches seem to be willing to sacrifice a bit of polish in the passing game for the running threat, although you'd never know it looking at the Big 12 numbers. Take Okie State's Robinson out of the aforementioned, and the six remaining have combined for 65 TD passes and nine interceptions.

More than ever, it seems, quarterbacks can be found under the radar. Mountain West offensive player of the week Omar Clayton was an Illinois high-school product who lived with his father for a while in Texas, bounced back to Illinois and was thus a moving target for recruiters, who mostly missed him.

But UNLV offensive coordinator Todd Berry had some connections in Illinois as a result of having been Illinois State's head coach in the late '90s, and the Rebels invited the 6-1 Clayton to walk on. Two weeks ago, he rewarded them with a victory over Arizona State.

"He was very athletic, and against us, they did a lot of things at the line of scrimmage," ASU coach Dennis Erickson said. "He was obviously a big difference in them winning the game."

And the nation's pass-efficiency leader? That's a guy from Portland whom you've probably never heard of. He's Tulsa's David Johnson, a more classic, 6-4, 215-pound gunner who just wanted a Division I offer and didn't get much out here. As coach Todd Graham tells it, three years ago Johnson lost a close battle with a future record-setter at Tulsa, Paul Smith, yet stayed around and has thrown a ridiculous 12 touchdown passes the past two weeks.

"He's definitely an NFL-type quarterback who can flat throw the ball," Graham said. "We push the ball vertically, and he's extremely accurate with that."

Men in black

ESPN "GameDay" will be at Georgia, where the No. 3 Bulldogs host No. 8 Alabama. The game features the SEC's top-ranked run defense (Georgia, 46 yards a game) against 'Bama's 237-yards-a-game rushing attack.

"Alabama's going to run the rock," says Georgia coach Mark Richt, meaning attempt it.

Richt's seniors lobbied him to wear black jerseys and he acceded, a choice that the Bulldogs wore well last year, beating Auburn in them, 45-20, and Hawaii in the Sugar Bowl, 41-10.

The other "spread"

Last week with nine seconds left, Stanford's Toby Gerhart bulled over from 2 yards out, providing the final margin in the Cardinal's 23-10 victory over San Jose State — and covering the 9 ½-point spread.

Spartans coach Dick Tomey said he had no problem with it, noting he had called timeout twice on the final Stanford drive.

But the question: Do coaches routinely know the point spread, especially as a game develops?

"I'm aware of it," conceded Florida State's Bobby Bowden. "I always like to look at that, because they're correct so often. I kind of enjoy looking at it.

"Now, do they play according to it? I'm sure we hear from some nut out there that's gambling. We don't ask him why, but there's always somebody who says, 'Glad you scored that last touchdown.' "

The End Zone

• Ohio State's Jim Tressel, not always the most forthcoming coach, had said Todd Boeckman and freshman Terrelle Pryor would split snaps last week against Troy, and they did, sort of. Pryor, now the starter, took 97 percent of them.

• No doubt about who the hardest-working back in the country is. Michigan State's Javon Ringer, Big Ten offensive player of the week for the third straight time, has 143 carries in four games, 30 more than anybody else.

• North Carolina's Butch Davis makes his first return Saturday to Miami, where he coached the Hurricanes for six years through 2000.

• Clemson has lately been preaching toughness, which defensive coordinator Vic Koenning underscored by bringing a roll of toilet paper to a pregame meeting last week. That's a lot of motivational tactic, considering the opponent was South Carolina State, which the Tigers whipped 54-0.

• Rhett Bomar, the ex-Oklahoma quarterback implicated in an improper-job scandal a couple of years ago, threw for 340 yards last week for Sam Houston State against Kansas.

• Seneca Wallace really can throw. It was the Seahawks quarterback who was co-holder of the Big 12 record for consecutive completions — 18 at Iowa State in 2001 — that Missouri's Daniel broke with 20 last week.

Bud Withers: 206-464-8281 or bwithers@seattletimes.com

Pac-10 picks

Washington 24, Stanford 21: More than ever, guys up front seem to hold the key to this one

Oregon 31, WSU 20: Have two college teams ever gone deeper at QB so early?

Cal 35, Colorado State 14: Bears too good to play the way they did at Maryland

Fresno State 31, UCLA 9: Bulldogs won't hesitate to make a point against offenseless Bruins

Last week: 1-4. Season: 13-8.

Weighing in ...

A weekly snippet from one of the

nation's fan message boards

From Rocky Top News: "I never thought I'd live to see the day when people who claim to be Vol fans say they won't root for UT until Fulmer leaves. I'm a Tennessee fan no matter who the coach is."

Fact check

The Massey computer rankings, which will be part of the BCS formula, jumped USC 19 spots to No. 1 this week — although the Trojans had a bye.

Just sayin'

Javier Arenas, Alabama cornerback, on the Crimson Tide: "I think fans across the nation are going to realize what we've been seeing from the beginning — that we're about business."

Pac-10 power rankings

By Bud Withers, Seattle Times college football reporter