Oct. 6, 2008

(12:20 p.m.): Apparently, UC will not be privy to another quarterback controversy this week. Just got off the Big East coaches teleconference, and BK said redshirt freshman Chazz Anderson will start this Saturday vs. Rutgers and Zach Collaros will be his backup.

I asked BK if, since he said originally Pike could be the emergency third quarterback for this game, Pike possibly would be ready. He emphatically said that no, Pike won't dress. He will, however, begin practicing this week, though in non-contact scenarios.

But for now, Anderson is the man at quarterback. And with the way he played on the road in his first college action in a tough atmosphere, it's deservedly so. Not that BK was all that surprised by Anderson's 16-of-26, 158-yard, two-TD, one-INT performance.

"I don't know if surprised is the right answer," BK said. "You're hopeful your preparation that you put him through carries the day. He's a young man who doesn't succumb to the emotion of the moment. He's a very level-headed, grounded kid. Playing at Marshall, he could control his emotions. It was a matter of execution and learning. He made some mistakes but he exhibited poise."

I asked BK what he saw in Anderson last week that inspired him to start Anderson instead of Collaros.

"He paid me a lot money," BK said (always the kidder). "He outperformed Zach in terms of the reps they got. He was more efficient in running our offense. Zach is a very good quarterback and could start for us as well, but he freelances* a little bit. I wasn't looking for that going into the Marshall game. I needed somebody who would really stick to our gameplan. Chazz gave us a little more consistency."

*Not that there's anything wrong with freelancing. It's what I've been doing for the past 10 months.

Some weeks on the conference call, the only reporters asking questions of BK are Koch and I. Today, though, with the Rutgers media on the call, BK drew a number of questions on a number of different topics. I'll get into some of his answers to those queries later this week (he talked about Kenny Britt, Mike Teel, Ray Rice and about his team's mental state).

I'm also working on a story for the New York Times (that is scheduled to run Wednesday or Thursday, I think) about the UC-Rutgers game two years ago, and how the two programs have taken different paths since. Well, that's not exactly true. The editors aren't really interested in the Rutgers side of it - apparently, the Times has covered the Rutgers collapse plenty - but they're more into why UC is 16-4 since then (The Scarlet Knights, BTW, are 11-10 since). Since part of The Odyssey will deal with this very issue, it should work out pretty well (although I have a harder time writing for the Times than I have for any other newspaper or Web site in my career).

So, I spent some of last week talking to players about their memories from that game, and today I asked Rutgers coach Greg Schiano about it (though not surprisingly, he didn't give me all that much).

"It's a disappointing memory," Schiano said. "It's one that we've learned from. Hopefully we'll be able to use that experience in the future."