MajorMike
08-14-2008, 03:26 PM
Big 12 quarterdeck crowded with talented signal callers
By Ivan Maisel
ESPN.com
Among the returning quarterbacks in the Big 12 Conference are a Heisman finalist, the most prolific passer in the nation and the most efficient passer in the nation. The quarterbacks are so good that a guy like Oklahoma State junior Zac Robinson, one of only three quarterbacks in the nation to rush for more than 800 yards and throw for more than 2,800 last season, can't get a sliver of national attention.
The proven talent at this position goes nine deep in the conference. Yet each of them has something to prove either as an individual or as the leader of a team. If 2008 fulfills its headline as The Year of the Quarterback in the Big 12, it will be because these 12 players have overcome the hurdles that await them.
Zac Robinson, Oklahoma State
Cowboys coach Mike Gundy repeated it constantly at Big 12 media days last month: Robinson is one of three players to rush for more than 800 yards and throw for more than 2,800 yards last season, not even starting until the fourth game - an upset victory over Texas Tech. One of the other ones won the Heisman Trophy.
http://assets.espn.go.com/photo/2008/0813/ncf_a_robinson_200.jpg
Zac Robinson piled up 3,671 total yards in '07.
Robinson took over at quarterback after Bobby Reid got hurt early in the season. Robinson, a junior, might have received more attention last season had Gundy's postgame media rant not sucked up all the bandwidth in the state of Oklahoma for several weeks. Cowboys offensive coordinator Larry Fedora slowly adapted the offense to Robinson's gifts; by the end of last season, Robinson ran many more zone-read plays out of the spread, and the Cowboys' tempo picked up.
This season, the show belongs to Robinson. Fedora has become the head coach at Southern Mississippi. Co-coordinators Trooper Taylor and Gunter Brewer have kept Robinson as the focus. Robinson has had a spring, summer and August in which he has earned the majority of the reps. He's a year smarter, stronger and faster. He'd better be smart. No other quarterback has taken a snap.
By Ivan Maisel
ESPN.com
Among the returning quarterbacks in the Big 12 Conference are a Heisman finalist, the most prolific passer in the nation and the most efficient passer in the nation. The quarterbacks are so good that a guy like Oklahoma State junior Zac Robinson, one of only three quarterbacks in the nation to rush for more than 800 yards and throw for more than 2,800 last season, can't get a sliver of national attention.
The proven talent at this position goes nine deep in the conference. Yet each of them has something to prove either as an individual or as the leader of a team. If 2008 fulfills its headline as The Year of the Quarterback in the Big 12, it will be because these 12 players have overcome the hurdles that await them.
Zac Robinson, Oklahoma State
Cowboys coach Mike Gundy repeated it constantly at Big 12 media days last month: Robinson is one of three players to rush for more than 800 yards and throw for more than 2,800 yards last season, not even starting until the fourth game - an upset victory over Texas Tech. One of the other ones won the Heisman Trophy.
http://assets.espn.go.com/photo/2008/0813/ncf_a_robinson_200.jpg
Zac Robinson piled up 3,671 total yards in '07.
Robinson took over at quarterback after Bobby Reid got hurt early in the season. Robinson, a junior, might have received more attention last season had Gundy's postgame media rant not sucked up all the bandwidth in the state of Oklahoma for several weeks. Cowboys offensive coordinator Larry Fedora slowly adapted the offense to Robinson's gifts; by the end of last season, Robinson ran many more zone-read plays out of the spread, and the Cowboys' tempo picked up.
This season, the show belongs to Robinson. Fedora has become the head coach at Southern Mississippi. Co-coordinators Trooper Taylor and Gunter Brewer have kept Robinson as the focus. Robinson has had a spring, summer and August in which he has earned the majority of the reps. He's a year smarter, stronger and faster. He'd better be smart. No other quarterback has taken a snap.