Each college football conference has something for everybody this year. Go to the Southeastern and watch the biggest, baddest defenses in the land put a hurtin’ on offenses. Check out the Pac-10 and see which mutt will rise up to shock Southern California. Head north to the Big Ten and see how slow football looked 30 years ago.
However, if you want to see the football in the air, if you love deep strikes and quick daggers, chains moving 20-30 yards at a time and big-name quarterbacks going head-to-head every week, start tuning in when the Big 12 begins league play Saturday.
The Big 12 isn’t a conference. It’s a passing clinic. From the dusty plains of rural Texas to the cornfields of Nebraska, quarterbacks are winging it at a success rate that may be unprecedented in the United States. That’s hard to equate, but one fact isn’t.
“The best quarterbacks in the country,” Texas coach Mack Brown said, “are in the Big 12.”
The statistics jump off a computer screen like Hollywood gossip. After national leader David Johnson of Tulsa, the next four passing efficiency leaders — Texas junior Colt McCoy, Oklahoma sophomore Sam Bradford, Missouri senior Chase Daniel and Oklahoma State junior Zac Robinson — are from the Big 12. So are six of the top 10 and nine of the top 20. Add 25th-ranked Jerrod Johnson of Texas A&M, and 40 percent of the nation’s top 25 quarterbacks are in this conference.
“I’ve never seen anything like it,” Missouri coach Gary Pinkel said. “There really are some high-level quarterbacks.”
It’s no coincidence, then, that the Big 12 is challenging the SEC as the best conference in America. Led by top-ranked Oklahoma, four of the top seven ranked teams are from the Big 12 with six in the top 25.
Now, is there any doubt that quarterback is the most important position in sports?
“Right now, Big 12 quarterbacks are front and center,” Kansas coach Mark Mangino said. “If your quarterback is making plays, moving the chains, giving you points, helping move your offense, he shows leadership and it rubs off on your entire team and not just your offense.”
Madden NFL 09 doesn’t match Big 12 stats. In four games, Daniel has thrown 12 touchdown passes and only one interception along with his 1,412 yards. Bradford has 16 touchdown passes and two picks. Then we come to McCoy, whose 209.7 rating is on the strength of hitting 80-of-100 passes. That’s 80 percent.
Sure, he has thrown against the likes of UTEP and Rice, but still . . .
“It’s hard to do against air,” Brown said.
What’s the reason for the air explosion? Looking back, don’t the old Big Eight teams who operated the wishbone seem like they played in leather helmets? There are a couple of explanations.
“You knew this was coming a couple of years ago,” Pinkel said. “Chase was a first-time starter two years ago. Last year you saw other young quarterbacks coming out.”
Take Bradford. Unlike McCoy in a tough second year, last year’s freshman sensation at OU is not suffering through a sophomore slump. And Bradford has destroyed a couple of pretty good teams in Cincinnati and Texas Christian.
“He’s just more experienced,” Oklahoma coach Bob Stoops said. “He sees things quicker. Naturally, he’s stronger after another year in the weight room. He’s gained 15 pounds of muscle and is just throwing the ball with more velocity. He’s always been accurate.”
Then there’s Daniel, who has gone from a Texas Longhorn reject to an 2009 NFL draft pick.
“The experience factor allows you to play at a whole different level,” Pinkel said. “Obviously, he’s very driven. You never have to worry about him not being prepared.”
Robinson, a Chatfield High School graduate, is the newest member of the Big 12 elite. His numbers aren’t astonishing, but his quiet efficiency has helped lift Oklahoma State into the top 25 for the first time in three years.
“He’s only been a quarterback for a year and a half,” Cowboys coach Mike Gundy said. “But he’s athletic, tough, smart and likes to play the game. He’s gotten better each year.”
Yes, experience helps, but these quarterbacks were made somewhere. The source is another reason for the air show. Six of the 12 quarterbacks in the league are from Texas.
In fact, Texas is producing arms as it used to produce oil. Of the 119 Division I-A schools, 23 starting quarterbacks from Texas. Surprised? The college coaches in Texas aren’t.
“There was a time when there wasn’t much in the way of (prep) passing leagues in the offseason,” Texas Tech coach Mike Leach said. “Now there are statewide passing leagues where they declare a champion. That’s helped quite a lot. Teams are throwing it more and have churned out more quarterbacks.”
It all means a feast for football fans, not only in Big 12 territory but across the country tired of defensive football in the SEC or running backs lumbering through bad weather in the Big Ten. Saturday alone, you have Nebraska’s Joe Ganz against Daniel, Kansas State’s Josh Freeman against Texas Tech’s Graham Harrell, and Bradford against Baylor’s Robert Griffin.
Then next week you have the real pitchers’ duel: McCoy vs. Bradford, Texas vs. Oklahoma, in Dallas.
“It all sorts out when we start playing each other,” Pinkel said, “and it’s going to start sorting out this week.”
