PAC-10 2000 FINAL REGULAR SEASON STATS SOURCE:
UCLA Sports Info VICTOR CHEN/Daily Bruin
By Hannah Gordon
Daily Bruin Reporter Some may be over-hyped while others are
overlooked, but overall, the Pac-10 is a conference of
quarterbacks. No one has gotten more attention than Oregon’s
Joey Harrington who led his team to a co-Pac-10 championship in
2000. The Heisman hopeful will face a lot of pressure attempting to
live up to the hype, however, after gracing the cover of Sports
Illustrated and a Manhattan skyscraper. Oregon State senior
Jonathan Smith has been overshadowed by running back Ken Simonton,
but he is an emotional leader like his rival Harrington. Smith has
a middle-of-the-road .503 completion percentage but triumphed over
Oregon in the Civil War to force a three-way tie for the Pac-10
championship. He topped off last season with a 41-9 mutilation of
the Fighting Irish in the Fiesta Bowl. Stanford’s Randy
Fasani is the final senior quarterback of the conference. Head
coach Tyrone Willingham thinks it takes a senior quarterback to win
the Pac-10 because of the wealth of knowledge accumulated through
experience. He hopes Fasani will be such a senior. “He has
the qualities of the modern quarterback: size, mobility, and
throwing ability,” Willingham said. Fasani also benefits from
having played linebacker, tight end, and special teams while
waiting his turn to be starting quarterback. “I played a
little defense so I understand what the defense is looking for,
what the weak points are, how to attack it,” Fasani said.
With less experience but no less talent are juniors Cory Paus of
UCLA, Carson Palmer of USC and Kyle Boller of Cal. Paus, who is
coming off a season where he maintained a .556 completion
percentage while averaging 264.0 passing yards per game, should be
near the top of the Pac-10 statistical categories for quarterbacks
this season. He was excluded from last year’s Pac-10 rankings
because he missed four games due to injury. If he can stay healthy,
he could be one of the best quarterbacks in the conference. He had
a slow start in Alabama after not being hit in spring and fall
practice, but feels fine. “I’m right where I need to be
and I’ll build on it,” Paus said. Last season at USC,
Palmer boasted a .549 completion percentage. But with more
interceptions (18) than touchdowns (16), some think he has not
lived up to expectation. Palmer could blossom this season under new
offensive coordinator Norm Chow, who coached Steve Young at BYU.
Like Palmer, Boller has been called over-hyped after two
disappointing seasons ““ completing .467 of his passes last
year. In the offseason, Cal hired UCLA offensive coordinator Al
Borges, who brought Boller back to basics, like footwork. “He
is very coachable; he and Cory have that in common,” Borges
said. “Cory is more of a finesse quarterback. Boller is
taller, rangier, he has great velocity.” At Washington State,
junior Jason Gesser led the Pac-10 in passing efficiency but could
not lead his team to victory, finishing 2-6 in the Pac-10. There
could be a bit of controversy with sophomore Matt Kegel gunning for
Gesser’s job after starting when Gesser broke his leg last
season. Washington will sorely miss Pac-10 offensive player of the
year Marques Tuiasosopo. Sophomore Cody Pickett, who had thrown
only two passes for Washington entering the current season, will
succeed him. Though head coach Rick Neuheisel expects mistakes, he
is looking at the long run. “I think we are going to like the
finished product,” he said in a press conference during the
Pac-10 media day. The Arizona schools face daunting quarterback
situations as well. New Arizona State head coach Dick Koetter chose
sophomore Jeff Krohn, who has started nine games in his career.
Krohn had an impressive 266.8 yards per game, but a .488 completion
percentage. Arizona is probably the Pac-10 team with the biggest
problems at the quarterback position. Junior Jason Johnson, who has
only appeared in eight games (in which he’d thrown a combined
total of 11 passes) in his first two seasons, won the starting
position. UCLA head coach Bob Toledo thinks the quarterbacks in the
Pac-10 are as strong as ever: “As a whole the quarterbacks in
this conference are outstanding.”