Georgia's Carter moves from outfield to backfield

Sporting News, The, Oct 5, 1998 by Tom Dienhart, Mike Huguenin

Last year at this time, Quincy Carter was winding up his second season as a right fielder in the Cubs' organization. This year, he is getting ready to start at quarterback at LSU in Georgia's first true big game of the season.

Carter and the 'Dogs head to Baton Rouge with a 3-0 record. But Georgia really hasn't beaten anybody of note. Carter has played well-he leads the SEC in passing efficiency and has completed 66.1 percent of his passes--but the Georgia offense is a far cry from what it was last season, when Mike Bobo was at quarterback and there were weapons such as tailback Robert Edwards and receiver Hines Ward. Defense is the focal point of this team, and its strong front seven and star cornerback Champ Bailey have the Bulldogs and fans thinking SEC title.

But remember that Carter has had to shake off a lot of rust. After being named a Parade magazine high school All-American in 1995, he gave up football the next two seasons, instead playing baseball. Football started tugging at him in late summer of 1997. The decisive moment? "I was watching the Kickoff Classic while waiting to play baseball, while I was in the clubhouse," he says.

Football basically had been an afterthought--"During the offseason, I tossed the football around," he says--but he has slipped gracefully into the spotlight that comes with playing quarterback for an established football power. The biggest adjustment has been "getting out there (and playing) ... the physical aspect of the game." Carter says it took him about two weeks to get used to the hitting that goes on, and to the speed of the game. He won the quarterback job during summer practice and admits he has some catching up to do. But his athletic skills--he is 6-3, 225, has a strong arm and can run--give him a good upside.

Frankly, an SEC title appears out of the question this season, because the offense doesn't seem to be of championship caliber. The defense, though, will keep the Bulldogs in every game, and the next two weeks--at LSU and vs. Tennessee--will decide the fate of this year's team. But Carter and a bushel of talented young players mean 1999 and 2000 could well be the "Years of the Bulldog" in the SEC.

Steaming along

If you're an Ohio State fan, you have to feel pretty good when you take a gander at the Buckeyes' remaining schedule. Unless you're a cynic regarding Michigan's hold on the Buckeyes, you have to think the Buckeyes can run the table if they get by Penn State on Saturday.

The Nittany Lions have looked solid in starting 3-0. Penn State is a young team with--seemingly--more speed than usual. But the defense gets its first real test against a high-powered Buckeyes offense. Penn State's offense could be productive, as long as it can control the line of scrimmage against an Ohio State defensive front that is questionable (hey, all Missouri can do is run, and the Tigers kept it close against the Buckeyes for three quarters). But this one will come down to whether the suspect Penn State defense can slow Ohio State.

After the Nittany Lions come calling, the rest of the Buckeyes' schedule is filled with the usual flotsam and jetsam at the bottom of the Big Ten (Illinois, Minnesota and Indiana), two struggling teams (Iowa and Northwestern) and two mystery teams (Michigan and Michigan State). Still, it's hard to imagine anybody beating the Buckeyes--in the regular season, that is.

If Ohio State gets to the postseason ranked No. 1, it will be in relatively uncharted waters. Not since the 1979 season--when Ohio State was ranked No. 1 heading into the Rose Bowl--have the Buckeyes entered the postseason with a chance to finish No. 1. And not since the 1968 season have the Buckeyes won it all.

Interestingly, Michigan's national championship last season has put the Buckeyes on the spot in another way: Of the seven schools to win at least 700 games (a milestone OSU reached last season) in college football history, Ohio State has gone the longest without winning a national title. (If it's any consolation to OSU fans, their school's 30-year drought is much shorter than the 49-year famine Michigan ended last season.)

School                   All-time wins      Last national title(*)

Michigan                      778                  1997
Notre Dame                    755                  1988
Nebraska                      726                  1995
Alabama                       719                  1992
Texas                         719                  1969
Penn State                    719                  1986
Ohio State                    703                  1968

(*) Based on Associated Press (writers and broadcasters) final polls.

Tough times

At the other end of the spectrum from Ohio State is Northern Illinois, which has lost 21 consecutive games. It's tempting to joke about bad teams ("Hey, did you hear Northern Illinois didn't lose last Saturday.... Yeah, the Huskies didn't play!"), but you have to feel for coach Joe Novak and his players. NIU has been hit by an unbelievable rash of injuries at quarterback, and the result is that Craig Harmon--a true freshman walk-on--will be the starter when NIU plays at Ball State on Saturday.