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Quarterbacks Have Their Day

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By JOEY JOHNSTON, The Tampa Tribune

Published: September 24, 2007

This college football season was billed as the Year of the Running Back, with Arkansas' Darren McFadden, Michigan's Mike Hart, Rutgers' Ray Rice, West Virginia's Steve Slaton, Boise State's Ian Johnson and Wisconsin's P.J. Hill among the expected contenders for the Heisman Trophy.

Saturday was different.

The Day of the Quarterback.

Hawaii's Colt Brennan, who seemingly collects a 400-yard performance by just rolling out of bed, didn't even play.

Just imagine how Brennan could have punctuated the crazy statistical day, with Charleston Southern coming to Honolulu, but he sat out with a sprained right ankle. Reserve Tyler Graunke took over for Hawaii's 66-10 win, passing for a pedestrian 285 yards.

Very pedestrian by Saturday's standards.

Ten quarterbacks had 400-yard performances, led by Texas Tech's Graham Harrell's 646 (fourth-highest in Division I-A history) and the career-high mark of 555 by Louisville's Brian Brohm.

And they lost.

There were actually three games in which both quarterbacks surpassed the 400-yard mark.

•Syracuse's Andrew Robinson threw for 432 yards in the Orange's 38-35 win against Louisville, topping the effort by Brohm.

(That's a combined 987 yards passing, well off the one-game record of 1,253. TCU's Matt Vogler of Robinson High had 690 and Houston's David Klingler had 563 in a 1990 Southwest Conference contest).

•San Diego State's Kevin O'Connell passed for 443 yards in a 52-17 win against Portland State, which got 408 yards from QB Brian White.

•Nebraska's Sam Keller set a school record with 438 yards, but the Cornhuskers needed a missed 55-yard field goal on the last play to hold off Ball State 41-40 and QB Nate Davis (422).

'I say this to you, no matter how it got done, it's a win,' Nebraska coach Bill Callahan said.

College offenses have never been more versatile - with wide-open passing, spread-option attacks and imaginative concepts - but there have been few start-to-finish statistical buffets like Saturday offered.

Not bad.

Especially during the Year of the Running Back.

Reporter Joey Johnston can be reached at (813) 259-7353 or jjohnston@tampatrib.com.

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