Background with Buckeyes adds to savvy of Bears QB

BOB HOLT
ARKANSAS DEMOCRAT-GAZETTE

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. -- Arkansas may have Southwest Missouri State outmanned at a lot of positions, but give the Bears an edge when it comes to quarterback experience in big-time games.
While Arkansas quarterback Robby Hampton will make his first start Saturday night when the Razorbacks play Southwest Missouri State in Little Rock, Bears quarterback Austin Moherman played in 10 games for Ohio State last season, including starts against Miami and UCLA.
"You feel real comfortable with Austin back there, because he won't be shaken by the crowd or the situation," said Courtney Messingham, who is Southwest Missouri State's offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach. "You know that when the bullets start flying, he'll be calm."
Moherman is a fourth-year junior from Newport Beach, Calif., who transferred to Southwest Missouri State after last season.
It's a move Moherman couldn't have anticipated making when the Buckeyes played Miami at Giants Stadium in the 1999 Kickoff Classic and he was the first sophomore to start at quarterback for Ohio State since Bobby Hoying in 1993.
"It was exciting to be starting, but obviously I had a different idea of how I wanted the season to go," Moherman said. "I feel I left Ohio State with people there still not knowing how I can play."
Moherman said he believed he played solidly in his two starts, when he combined to complete 20 of 41 passes for 214 yards and one touchdown with three interceptions in a loss to Miami (23-12) and victory over UCLA (42-20).
The Buckeyes were losing to UCLA 10-7 midway through the second quarter, when Steve Bellisari replaced Moherman and helped rally Ohio State.
Bellisari started the final 10 games as Moherman played sporadically off the bench and finished the season completing 36 of 75 passes for 435 yards and 2 touchdowns with 5 interceptions and the Buckeyes struggled to a 6-6 record.
"(The coaches) let Steve mature in the system, and I never got that shot," Moherman said. "I didn't get the time to see what I could do with a full four or five games."
Moherman decided it was time to transfer, with Bellisari being a junior this season and entrenched as the starter.
"Ohio State's a great place, but I didn't want to be a backup, I couldn't enjoy that," Moherman said. "I wasn't happy, and it's a big world out there, and I needed to go somewhere else."
Moherman said he was contacted by several schools about transferring and narrowed his choices to four where he would have immediate eligibility -- Southwest Missouri State, Murray State, Connecticut and Western Illinois.
Second-year Southwest Missouri Coach Randy Ball, who coached at Western Illinois the previous 16 seasons, has developed a reputation as a good option for Division I transfers -- especially those from Big Ten schools -- and Moherman saw the opportunity to step in as a starter for the Bears.
Last season as a senior quarterback for Southwest Missouri State, Jay Rodgers, a transfer from Indiana, set school records by passing for 2,741 yards and 24 touchdowns.
"That was encouraging to see what he did in this system," Moherman said. "They threw for a lot of yards here last year, and as quarterback you like that.
"You want to win, but you'd also like to do it throwing the ball."
Moherman described himself as a classic drop-back passer, and at 6-5 and 220 pounds, he looks the part.
"I'm used to seeing quarterbacks who are 6-1, and the first time I saw Austin I thought he was on our basketball team," Southwest Missouri State senior linebacker Corky Martin said. "I was like, 'Does this guy play power forward?' Somebody said, 'No, he's our new quarterback,' I said, 'Aw-right.' "
Moherman, who threw for 5,836 yards at Capistrano Valley High School, sounds like a laid-back Californian, but his coaches and teammates said that's misleading.
"He's quietly competitive," Ball said. "By that I mean the fire burns inside him the way it's supposed to burn."
Bears junior fullback Demetrius Smith, a transfer from Michigan, said Moherman reminds him of Tom Brady, who was from San Mateo, Calif., and started at quarterback for the Wolverines the previous two seasons.
"Tom was from California and kind of laid-back like Austin, but when they step on the field, they're both focused," Smith said. "Austin has a great mind. He knows the game, and he's very calm. He's not going to break under the pressure."
Moherman will be passing against an Arkansas secondary with four new starters, including redshirt freshman free safety Ken Hamlin from Memphis Frayser High School.
"Kenny's lined up and played against Trezevant, Bartlett and White Station," said Arkansas co-defensive coordinator John Thompson, rattling off names of other Memphis high schools. "Those are nice teams, but this is going to be different for Kenny and our other young guys in the secondary.
"You've got to give the advantage to (Moherman) with the experience he got at Ohio State. We just can't let him get too comfortable back there."
If Moherman gets good pass protection, he has the skills to make big plays.
"He has a great arm, a lot of velocity and accuracy," Smith said. "But he has a nice touch, too."
Moherman wants to sit back in the pocket and isn't likely to do much scrambling.
"I'm not an option guy or anything like that," he said. "But I understand our offense, understand defense and I can get the ball to the right guys."
That's what concerns the Razorbacks.

This article was published on Thursday, August 31, 2000

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