Downfield Coverage: Notes from the week that was

Hot Reed
San Jose State quarterback Kyle Reed opened Saturday’s game at Stanford with 16 consecutive completions. His first misfire was a deep pass with :03 remaining in the first half of the Spartans’ 23-10 loss.

Reed, a Cal transfer, may not steal any headlines away from Missouri’s Chase Daniel, who completed a Big 12-record 20 straight passes versus Buffalo. Still, it was the second straight sizzling start for the junior. A week earlier against San Diego State he completed his first 13 attempts in a 35-10 win.

“Hot Legs”…or how about “Young Turks?”
Colorado’s roster includes the most heavily recruited tailback in the nation last year, freshman Darrell Scott. But it was Scott’s classmate, Rod(ney) Stewart, who dazzled in a Thursday evening prime-time win against West Virginia. The overlooked freshman had 166 yards on 28 carries to help Colorado to a win and the Buffs’ first 3-0 start since 2004.

Good Question
Mountaineer coach Bill Stewart, by the way, is learning how much easier it is to be the nice guy when someone else is the head coach. As Stewart walked off the field following WVU’s 17-14 overtime loss in Boulder, a Mountaineer fan low on gruntle barked, “What are you going to do with those timeouts now?”

The 12th Man is an Angry Man
It may be time for a Q&A&M with new head coach Mike Sherman in College Station. Miami rolled the Aggies at Kyle Field, 41-23, in a game that was not as close as the final score indicates. The ‘Canes led 41-10 at one point as Texas A&M lost two consecutive home games to non-conference foes for the first time. Yes, quarterback Stephen McGee was injured, but A&M is headed for the cellar of the Big 12 South.

How is Oregon’s QB situation almost exactly like a guitar?
A guitar has six strings. The Ducks are only one-third of the way through the season and are already down to their 5th-string quarterback. Starter Nate Costa, who took over from NFL-bound Dennis Dixon, suffered a season-ending knee injury in August. Then his backup, Justin Roper, suffered a concussion in the season-opener. Third-string QB Jeremiah Masoli was knocked out of Saturday’s loss to Boise State with a concussion, which opened the door for fourth-string quarterback Chris Harper, a true freshman.

Harper was ineffective, though, so in came another true freshman, Darron Thomas. In his first quarter, the fourth, as a college passer, Thomas threw three touchdown passes as he nearly led Oregon all the way back from a 24-point deficit versus Boise State.

“We decided at halftime to bring (Darron) in, but we didn't do it until I said we could,” said Oregon coach Mike Bellotti, “and we probably should have done it earlier."

In Quotes

“Weren’t you at the game?” -- Jim Tressel, when asked if Terrelle Pryor, who threw four touchdown passes in his first start for Ohio State, was now the Buckeyes’ starting QB

“It wasn’t like somebody up there was doing something illegal.” -- Charlie Weis, on a Notre Dame student manager having a laptop in the coaches’ box during the Spartans’ 23-7 win over the Irish. Ironically, less than 10 hours later, somebody was doing something illegal, as Irish gridders Will Yeatman and Mike Golic, Jr., were arrested for underage alcohol possession.

The name rings a bell
Heisman candidate Chase Daniel of Missouri had the most prolific passing day of any quarterback in Big 12 games on Saturday (439 yards). The second-most prolific effort belonged to Sam Houston State quarterback Rhett Bomar, who threw for 340 yards in the Bearkats loss to Kansas.

Bomar, you may recall, played his first season at Oklahoma before being kicked off the team for a sham summer job (arranged for him by a booster, but why make that guy pay, right?). Five years ago Bomar and Adrian Peterson were the Sooners’ two top recruits. The paths have diverged, certainly, but Bomar seems to be headed in the right direction.

Throwklahoma?
If Missouri is the “Show Me” state, Oklahoma is the “Throw Me” state. The nation’s top two quarterbacks, in terms of passing efficiency, are Tulsa’s David Johnson (225.9) and Oklahoma’s Sam Bradford (214.4).

While Tulsa is not a Big 12 program, can we mention yet again just how off-the-charts impressive this conference’s QBs are? Missouri’s Daniel, who has completed a heat-seeking missile-worthy 75 of 88 passes in his past three games, is only third in the conference (behind Bradford and Colt McCoy of Texas) in passing efficiency. Daniel can find some solace in the fact that third in the Big 12 is also fourth in the nation.

And finally …
A little off-camera wit, pardner, from the ABC broadcast booth during Saturday night’s Georgia-Arizona State game (by the way, that Knowshon Moreno does know how to pose for Heisman-esque action shots, does he not?). A female visitor to the booth noticed Brent Musberger’s spotter flashing his hands twice at the venerable play-by-play man.
“What does that mean?” the lady asked.

“It means there were 10 players on the field instead of 11,” Musberger replied. “That leaves a hole in the defense.”

“Why don’t you just use the ‘hole sign’ instead?” she answered. Brent was speechless.