Cal Has Second to Worse Pass Completion Rate in the Country

Quarterback play sending strong signals to teams

Jake Curtis

SF. Chronicle

The significance of quarterback play smacked us in the face during the opening weekend of games. It led to home losses for two of the three teams involved in last season's BCS controversy. It gave big-time aspirations to Notre Dame and Georgia. It created difficult decisions at Ohio State, Cal and Tennessee.

All of our six R's this week revolve around the quarterback:

RISING

Georgia -- After three seasons as David Greene's backup, D.J. Shockley got his first collegiate start and went 16-for-24 (with four perfect throws dropped) and tied a school record with five touchdown passes, all in less than three quarters of action Saturday in the No. 13 Bulldogs' 48-13 rout of No. 18 Boise State.

Notre Dame -- The same folks who predicted an 0-6 start for the unranked Irish are now saying, after beating No. 23 Pittsburgh 42-21, that they have a shot at beating Michigan on Saturday after seeing Brady Quinn sparkle (18-for-27, 2 TDs and 0 sacks after being sacked 25 times last season) in the Charlie Weis system that made Tom Brady a star in New England.

Clemson -- Inconsistent Charlie Whitehurst benefited from coach Tommy Bowden's sudden emphasis on a running game, completing 14-of-19 passes with no interceptions in a 25-24 victory over No. 17 Texas A&M after having 17 passes picked off last season.

REELING

Oklahoma -- Because the Sooners' quarterbacks provided no passing threat while going 13-for-31 with four turnovers, Adrian Peterson, last year's Heisman Trophy runner-up, was made to look like an ordinary back, and the TCU pass defense, which ranked last in the nation last season, was made to look like the 1985 Chicago Bears in the Horned Frogs' shocking 17-10 upset of the No. 7 Sooners in Norman.

Auburn -- Brandon Cox committed five turnovers, including four interceptions, in the 23-14 home loss to Georgia Tech that ended the Tigers' 17-game win streak. In one game, Cox threw twice as many interceptions as Jason Campbell threw in Auburn's first eight games combined last season.

Boise State -- Last week, stadium speakers blasted Ray Charles' "Georgia on My Mind" into Boise State players' heads during practice. Jared Zabranksy might never get Georgia out of his mind after committing six first-half turnovers against the Bulldogs.

ROLLING

USC -- Matt Leinart threw three TD passes to set a school career record (now 74) against the blitzing Hawaii defense set up by defensive coordinator Jerry Glanville, the former NFL head coach.

Texas -- Vince Young became a drop-back passer, running only seven times while completing 13-of-17 passes in a 60-3 pasting of Louisiana-Lafayette, a warm-up to Saturday's Ohio State game.

Florida -- Chris Leak completed 26-of-34 passes for three TDs without an interception in his first game in Urban Meyer's spread option offense -- a 32-14 win over Wyoming for the No. 10 Gators -- but Meyer was not satisfied, saying Leak has a long way to go.

RESOLUTION REQUIRED

Ohio State -- Ohio State coach Jim Tressel has not announced whether the starter for Saturday's game against Texas will be Justin Zwick, who completed 17-of-23 passes in the 34-14 opening win over Miami of Ohio, or Troy Smith, who had been named the No. 1 quarterback but was suspended for the opener because he had accepted money from a booster.

Tennessee -- Starter Erik Ainge had a lousy game, going 5-for-14 with two interceptions in a 17-10 win against UAB, and his replacement, Rick Clausen, had a good game (17-for-24), leaving coach Phil Fulmer in a quandary over what to do for the next two games -- at Florida and at LSU.

Cal -- This is Jeff Tedford's ultimate test of quarterback development. For Saturday's Pac-10 opener at Washington, he has to choose between one player (Joseph Ayoob) who went 0-for-10 in his first Division I-A game and another (Steve Levy) who was 2-for-7 with an interception after spending last season as a fullback and who did not take a single snap at quarterback in last week's practices.

RANDOM NOTE

Maybe it should not be a surprise that the nation's early leader in passing efficiency (Blake Mitchell) plays for Steve Spurrier at South Carolina.

RANKING

The top three most intriguing passing numbers from Saturday:

-- BYU's John Beck completed 41 passes, but the Cougars scored just three points, losing 20-3 to No. 22 Boston College.

-- Iowa's three quarterbacks completed 19-of-20 passes in a 56-0 laugher against suspension-depleted Ball State.

-- Only one team (SMU, 34.6) has a pass-completion rate worse than Cal's 35.7 percent.