By Ray Buck
CBS SportsLine National Columnist
Sept. 12, 1998
ORLANDO, Fla. -- Daunte Culpepper probably has a better shot at being the No. 1 pick in the NFL draft seven months from now than winning the Heisman Trophy in December.
While
|
NFL scouts, meanwhile, pay pilgrimages to wherever the Golden Knights play to see the 6-foot-4, 240-pound Culpepper.
Scouts from the Baltimore Ravens, Buffalo Bills, Jacksonville Jaguars, Seattle Seahawks and St. Louis Rams came to the Citrus Bowl Saturday night to see Culpepper pass (406 yards, four TDs, no INTs), run (82 yards and three TDs) and overall bully Division 1-AA Eastern Illinois 48-0 before a crowd of 35,219.
IN TWO GAMES SHOWCASING the Heisman Trophy candidate this season, Central Florida, 2-0, has outscored the opposition 112-30. And Culpepper has produced an incredible quarterback rating of 205.12.
In 13 starts over two seasons, he now has thrown 33 touchdown passes.
|
|
Culpepper has established himself as a legitimate Heisman threat. (All Sport)
|
The problem for first-year head coach Mike Kruczek, a former NFL quarterback who was on two Super Bowl teams with the Pittsburgh Steelers in the late '70s, is finding how to play the Heisman-hype game while pretending he's not.
To his credit, Kruczek doesn't even pretend.
OK, so somebody out there will object to seeing a Heisman candidate playing in the fourth quarter of a 48-0 blowout. Kruczek figures somebody else out there might notice Culpepper's greatness -- and Central Florida's existence.
"I KNOW I'LL PROBABLY get some criticism for leaving Culpepper in the game in the fourth quarter tonight ... but this is a unique situation," he said. "I don't know how many times a Heisman Trophy candidate comes down the pike at a school like the University of Central Florida. Not only do you have to win impressively, in my opinion, but you have to make sure you give him an opportunity to even be in the hunt for the Heisman.
"Statistically, you have to make sure that he matches up with the other Heisman candidates in the country."
It's the same strategy that goes on with Ricky Williams at Texas, UCLA's Cade McNown and Tim Couch at Kentucky.
"It's in the back of all those head coaches' minds, too, to make sure their player is more visible than the other (Heisman candidates) ... in performance and statistics. Right or wrong, that's what they're doing."
KEEP IN MIND, Culpepper doesn't draw up the schedule. He just plays it -- and exploits it whenever the names are Louisiana Tech and Eastern Illinois.
However, next up for Culpepper and the Golden Knights is a trip into Big Ten territory to play Purdue Saturday. You may remember last season, Central Florida gave Nebraska a scare in Lincoln before losing 38-24.
Against the Cornhuskers, Culpepper threw for 318 yards with two touchdowns (one passing, one rushing), proving he doesn't need a patsy to pull up gaudy stats.
"Daunte and I sat down before the season and outlined what we expected from him against each team on our schedule," Kruczek said. "Today, he met the objective (for Eastern Illinois), which sounds funny when you consider he threw for four touchdowns and ran for three others. Those are huge numbers. Those numbers may not be as high next week (at Purdue) ..."
WHAT CULPEPPER NEEDS from us is a little Disney imagination. NFL scouts are willing to give him that. Unfortunately, Heisman voters get bogged down with obvious facts about scheduling and scores, while the scouts choose to make projections on obvious talent.
Culpepper, who went to high school in Ocala, Fla., was recruited by both Florida and Florida State, but they were scared off by his grade transcript through his junior year. After he pulled his marks up, Florida showed interest ... but Culpepper remained loyal to Central Florida.
This is a small-college quarterback who has a big-time arm. He is a remarkable athlete who can escape pressure and find the end zone. He makes it look easy.
"They rushed only two or three and dropped back eight or nine," Culpepper said of the Eastern Illinois defense. "So, I took advantage of this. I saw that I could gain five or six yards anytime I ran, so I did."
WHEN CENTRAL FLORIDA breaks from the huddle, Culpepper looks like the fullback. Or right guard.
He bench presses 345 pounds, runs a 4.68-second 40-yard dash and has a 36-inch vertical leap. He is a tremendous athlete. Maybe everyone will agree when he gets one of those $6 million-per-year contracts next April.
"I've worked hard on making myself into more of a drop-back passer," Culpepper said. "Now when my first receiver is covered, I dump the ball off to a running back or a shallow receiver."
The two plays that worked all night against Eastern Illinois were the bubble screen and the quarterback draw. Culpepper estimated that he audibled 10 times -- mostly into screens and draws.
What the scouts noticed was that Culpepper has more than just an NFL arm, he has great field presence. As easy as he makes it look, he never saunters back to the huddle or to the line of scrimmage. The quick out route is a difficult pass to make; Culpepper makes it throwing across his body.
CULPEPPER CONSISTENTLY THROWS the ball with the right speed, the right touch, and over the receiver's right shoulder. Saturday night, he completed 12 consecutive passes, and finished with eight straight completions.
Even with two dropped passes, he was 28 of 33 passing, and is now 52 of 70 (74.3 percent) for the season.
When asked how he explained five incompletions against Eastern Illinois, Culpepper replied with a straight face, "I can improve ... nobody's perfect."
Neither is the Heisman-hype game, or how to handle it. A head coach needs to be able to help his Heisman candidate get his statistics without looking like he's out there just to get his statistics.
UNLESS YOU'RE MIKE KRUCZEK from Central Florida, and then you admit what you're doing is right for your school.
"Because of Daunte Culpepper, we're getting national television, national exposure, people are learning about this university," Kruczek said. "What is the University of Central Florida? Who is this team? Where are they (located)?
"People are asking questions about us -- and that's good.
good."
So is Daunte Culpepper.
Ray Buck is CBS SportsLine's national columnist.