Who was the best college quarterback in Utah this year?
Although some folks might have to think about that for a minute, the answer is obvious - Matt Sauk of Utah State.Of course, you could say he is the best almost by default, considering that BYU, Utah, Weber State and Southern Utah all played muscial quarterbacks this year and had a hard time settling on one consistent signal-caller.
But the overlooked Sauk, who will lead the Aggies against Cincinnati Monday in the inaugural Humanitarian Bowl in Boise, would likely be the best college quarterback in most states around the country.
Just look at the numbers.
Under Sauk, the Aggies have produced the two best offensive seasons in school history, 468.5 yards per game in 1996 and 449.4 yards this year. Sauk passed for 2,896 yards this year, the third best total in USU history and his 5,385 career yards puts him fifth on the all-time list. That's pretty remarkable considering that he produced his yards in just two years, compared to four for most of the guys ahead of him.
But with running backs such as Demario Brown and Melvin Blue and receivers such as Nakia Jenkins and Steve Smith, the non-flashy Sauk is often taken for granted.
"Matt has done everything we've asked of him," said USU coach John L. Smith. "He's tough, has a good arm and makes the right decisions."
At first glance, Sauk doesn't look like a quarterback. He's a solid 6 feet 1 inches tall, 215 pounds ("some people call me fat") and exhibits a linebacker's mentality, which allows him to take on opposing players head-on, often to the chagrin of his coaches.
Sauk is not afraid of contact and has to be reminded by his coaches to "slide" more often when he's out in the open and about to get tackled. That's one thing he doesn't do well, and after an inept slide in the New Mexico State game, Smith had fun at Sauk's expense in describing the attempted slide.
"I don't mind contact, it's fun," Sauk said. "Most defensive backs are smaller than me anyway. It's fun to get hit and get back up and laugh at them."
Of course, that works a lot better against 170-pound defensive backs than 270-pound defensive line-men.
Sauk also has a rifle for an arm, which might be the reason for so many of the dropped passes this year by Aggie receivers, who can't hold onto the hot passes. His 75-yard touchdown pass to Nakia Jenkins was so impressive that it made CNN play of the week. The pass was delivered on a string, barely rising above helmet level, 30 yards in the air to Jenkins, who snagged it behind the defense and waltzed into the end zone.
This year Sauk feels his biggest improvement has come in recognizing defenses, and he has often changed the play at the line of scrimmage. That's one reason he turned around his touchdown/
interception ratio with 16 touchdown passes and 10 interceptions compared to eight TDs and 14 picks last year.
Sauk wasn't recruited out of Woodbridge High in Irvine, Calif., so he went to Orange Coast JC, where he threw for more than 3,000 yards as a two-year starter. He verbally committed to TCU but didn't have the grades at first to get in. He started taking some extra classes and USU snapped him up before anyone else could. "It all happened in about three weeks," he said.
Although this is his final college game, Sauk said he "would love to play again. It's every player's dream to play professionally." Eventually he'd like to be a coach even if he does play professionally for awhile.
As for Monday's game with Cincinnati, Sauk feels confident in the Aggie offense.
"I don't think anything has changed from our stadpoint," he said. "We'll try to run the ball and play a controlled passing game. We want to show what Utah State is all about and why we're the No. 9 offense in the country. We're pretty fired-up."
BOWL NOTES: According to the Boise State ticket office, some 19,000 seats had been sold as of Friday afternoon. Approximately 14,000 of the seats have been sold in Boise, and each school has sold about half of its 5,000-seat allotments . . . The game is being televised nationally on ESPN2, but since so few sets in Utah get ESPN2, it will be televised on Channel 38 in Salt Lake County and Channel 12 in Weber, Box Elder and Davis counties . . . Latest weather in Boise calls for highs of 35 in the day with clear skies and no threat of snow the next few days . . . The Idaho Statesman, the local paper in Boise, is excited for the game, even if the community isn't. The Statesman is putting out a four-page special section every day for four days . . . Cincinnati will practice this morning before the Mayor's Humanitarian Luncheon, and Utah State will practice after. On Sunday, Cincinnati will practice at 3 p.m. and Utah State at 4 p.m.