Brian Kelly never imagined his team’s season turning out like this. Sure, the head coach’s team is 3-1, but it had to go through four quarterbacks to get there.

After just four games, Cincinnati will resort to its fourth-string quarterback when it plays Marshall, on Friday.

Ben Mauk, Dustin Grutza and Tony Pike were all slated to start this year, but now they can only watch from the sidelines.

‘I’ve never been in a situation like this before in my 14 years of coaching,’ Kelly said. ‘You go into the season thinking you’ll play one, maybe two quarterbacks. You don’t expect this to happen to your season. Sure, it’s frustrating but you don’t get points for complaining about it.’

Mauk, who led the Bearcats to 10 wins and a No. 17 final ranking in 2007, was first in line. Mauk redshirted in 2003, but then suffered a season-ending injury against Syracuse in October 2006. So Mauk, a graduate student at Cincinnati, applied for another season of eligibility. However, the NCAA turned him down four times, and he never got a shot this year.

Grutza had the starting job in 2006, lost it to Mauk in 2007 and started the season-opener for Cincinnati this season. Grutza threw 514 yards and four touchdowns in two games. Then he suffered a fractured right fibula with a residual high ankle sprain, in the fourth quarter against Oklahoma on Sept. 4.

Option number three: Pike. He saw action in five games in 2007 and stepped up against Miami (OH) this season, completing 20-of-24 passes for 241 yards. This year Pike got the start against Akron and went 23-for-34 for 320 yards. Then, injury struck the Bearcats again. Pike injured his non-throwing arm in the fourth quarter and did not return.

After Pike went down, Kelly had to turn to No. 4 on the depth chart, redshirt freshman Zack Collaros. Collaros went 1-of-4 for two yards and rushed for 18 yards.

Now, Kelly is left with a decision. Two redshirt freshmen will fight for the job of Kelly’s fourth starting quarterback of the season – Collaros and Chazz Anderson. They’re two very different players with two very different styles.

Collaros has athleticism, mobility and the ability to work outside the pocket. But Kelly said the freshman gets anxious and can make plays too quickly. Collaros passed for 2,550 yards with 30 touchdowns and four interceptions at Steubenville High School in Ohio.

Anderson understands the offense better and avoids bad plays, but is plagued by inexperience, Kelly said. Anderson had 6,000 career passing yards at Pickerington Central High School, OH.

‘We are going to try to play both of them,’ Kelly said. ‘I have to see who steps up during practice before I make the call of who is going to start. It is what it is, and now our offense has to put together a package to win. The new quarterback has to run our offense. I believe we can win with either of these guys at the helm.’

During spring training, Grutza saw most of the action because Mauk had yet to be approved for eligibility, and Pike played at backup. Grutza was not as strong and could not throw as far as Pike. Pike was a much stronger passer, which altered the plays after the first two games for Cincinnati.

But Muak, Grutza, and Pike aren’t options this week against Marshall as the Bearcats prepare its fourth quarterback for its fifth game.

‘I have my head up and stay positive for the team,’ Kelly said. ‘They follow my cue. If I was disappointed, I’m sure they would have felt the same way. We put Tony’s (Pike) injury behind us on the bus ride home from Akron. Now it’s time to get these freshmen quarterbacks ready to play.’

Brooks helps Rutgers dominate Morgan State

After a 0-3 start, Rutgers tallied its first win at home against Morgan State, 38-0, behind Jourdan Brooks. Brooks, a redshirt freshman, rushed for 65 yards and three touchdowns.

‘He’s getting better, and he is very talented,’ said Greg Schiano, Rutgers’ head coach. ‘The upside to him is there is a lot of improvement in front of him. He is starting to understand the runs better starting to read things better. There is still a long way to go that’s really exciting.’

Brooks has 241 yards and five touchdowns so far this season.

‘A great asset, he’s a great asset to our team,’ Schinao said. ‘He’s very fast, and that’s exactly what you’re looking for in a running back.’

Connecticut still undefeated

Connecticut silenced any doubts that its 4-0 start against non-conference opponents was a fluke.

UConn came from behind to defeat Louisville, its first Big East opponent of the season, 26-21 on Sept. 26. The Huskies are one of only two teams in the conference that remain undefeated.

Lawrence Wilson intercepted the ball with 2:45 remaining in the fourth quarter and rushed for 45 yards, to give UConn a win at Louisville.

‘The way we came back was a very good effort from our players,’ said UConn head coach Randy Edsall. ‘It was a great win to prove ourselves.’

Despite the win, the Huskies did face a disappointment. Starting quarterback Tyler Lorenzen suffered a foot injury in the second quarter, and did not return to the game. The senior had surgery on Sunday, and will be out 6-to-8 weeks.

‘I thought Zack (Frazer) came in and handled himself really well,’ Edsall said. ‘Once he got into the flow of the game, he started to throw the ball much better. He’ll be the starter, and we expect him to go in and play well’

Frazer, a sophomore, completed 8-of-15 passes for 90 yards, and threw a touchdown.

Connecticut is at the top of the Big East standings, but will take a break from Big East play this weekend, when it travels to North Carolina.

mkgalant@syr.edu

Published on September 30, 2008 at 12:00 pm