Iowa coach Hayden Fry has lofty praise for Brigham Young's Ty Detmer.
Fry said Detmer may be the best college quarterback he's seen in his 30 years as a college football coach."He's got unbelievable radar," Fry said of Detmer. "He knows when a guy is closing in on him from a rushing standpoint.
"He can elude him and then find his number three or four receiver down the field, throw back clear across the field when he's running full speed one direction, find the guy and hit him right on the numbers."
Fry will get a closeup look at Detmer Dec. 30 when Iowa meets BYU in the Holiday Bowl.
"My vocabulary is not that large," Fry told writers on a teleconference Monday. "I couldn't come up with enough adjectives or descriptions for Ty.
"Ty Detmer has got to be one of if not the greatest quarterbacks to ever play college football."
Detmer's numbers back Fry up.
The senior will close his brilliant career against Iowa. He's already passed for an NCAA record 15,031 yards and 121 touchdowns in his career.
He will leave Brigham Young with more passing records than you can shake a stick at. He'll certainly test Iowa's proud defense.
Even All-American defensive end Leroy Smith of Iowa may have trouble slowing Detmer down. Smith set a Big Ten record for quarterback sacks with 18.
Smith is one of the guys Iowa will count on to keep Detmer under control. Smith's career might have been different if Iowa hadn't had Nick Bell and Tony Stewart in the backfield when Smith arrived on campus.
"He came to us as a running back," Fry said. "We had Nick Bell and Tony Stewart at the time and we could see Leroy had too much talent to be a third-string running back. We needed some speed at defensive end so we moved him over and he's had three excellent years."
Iowa will need some big plays against the high-powered BYU offense and Smith is the guy Fry will look to.
"Leroy has had truly an outstanding year," Fry says. "He's a big play maker."
The football fan in Fry might have trouble keeping his eyes off Detmer.
"I'm going to have to watch myself during the ballgame," Fry said. "I'm going to be watching him and I need to be watching my defensive adjustments and coverages."
Fry said the Hawkeyes would fly to San Diego on Dec. 23 and hold a regular week of practice beginning on Christmas day. He said the Hawkeyes would practice Dec. 20, 21 and 22 in Iowa City.
The Iowa coach also said the Hawkeyes were delighted to play in the Holiday Bowl, even though many fans wish the team were playing in a New Years Day Bowl.
"We're just tickled to death to go to the Holiday Bowl and play against a team like BYU and, in my opinion, one of the top coaches and finest gentlemen in the game in LaVell Edwards and against a Heisman Trophy winner from last year in Ty Detmer. We're honored and always have been."