David Klingler is as adept at facing the media blitz as he is evading opposing defenses.
The Houston quarterback answered all questions from writers and broadcasters hooked up to a national conference call Tuesday - even the ones about calling the Heisman Trophy a doorstop, running up the score and whether the run-and-shoot can be stopped?Klingler set or tied 33 NCAA records last season and started 1991 with nine touchdown passes, including an NCAA-record six in one quarter, in Houston's 73-3 rout of Louisiana Tech on Saturday.
Now the 10th-ranked Cougars are preparing for a showdown against No. 3 Miami on Sept. 12 and Klingler's as controlled with the media as he is triggering the run-and-shoot.
Do you get the feeling you guys are running up the score a little bit?
"Not at all. The way our offense works, when you explode for 45 points in a quarter, that's still only a quarter of play. If you go through the whole season with a couple quarters of play in each game, it will catch up with you.
"Other teams are playing full games. We need some game experience, especially with the young offensive line and our receivers. (Wide receiver) Freddie Gilbert is doing well but he's still making some basic mistakes.
"Those are the things you have to work on in games. You can't really do that in practice, but in front of a crowd it's harder."
The quote about the Heisman - you referred to it as a doorstop?
"It was taken out of context. The writer asked me if I thought the Eastern Washington game last year hurt my chances of winning the Heisman. I told him whether it did or not, if I had to go throw five touchdowns (he threw 11) to win the Heisman and really not try, it lessens the value of the trophy. What's the trophy mean if you're not giving your best?"
The Cougars beat Eastern Washington, a Division I-AA school, 84-21. Klingler passed for 572 yards before leaving the game with 12:41 to play.
"I don't think anyone should tell you you should go out there and lay down and not try to do your best," Klingler said. "All I did in the Eastern Washington game was go out there and play the best I could play and the defense had a good game. If that lost me the trophy, so be it. If you don't give your best to win it, it's not worth much."
Do you want to win the Heisman?
"No, I want to win 11 games. The Heisman is an award that comes out at the end of the season. It's really an individual award and I'm not in football to win individual awards. If I wanted to win individual awards I'd be a tennis player or golfer or something like that.
"I won't win the Heisman without the other 21 guys on offense and defense doing their jobs. If they don't do their jobs, what I do doesn't matter."
Can the run-and-shoot be stopped?
"There are definitely defenses around (to stop it), because it comes back to personnel. If you're getting whipped on the offensive line or getting covered it can be stopped. It's not like waving a magic wand and run it every time.
"If you have lesser talent than the other team, it doesn't matter if you should get beat. By no means are we ever going to line up and say, `If we're clicking today, we should line up and dominate the New York Giants.' That's not going to happen."