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It started with the hype for Stanford’s Andrew Luck, whose every pass, scramble and gesture are monitored closely by not only college football fans but NFL fans, who are desperate to have the certain No. 1 overall draft pick on their team next season.
Then there’s USC’s Matt Barkley, another certain first-round pick if he chooses to enter the draft early. The Trojans may be under NCAA sanctions and ineligible to play in the postseason, but they are still on national television almost every week. And when you are the quarterback at USC, and you play well, you get noticed.
In some ways, even Oregon’s Darron Thomas and Washington’s Keith Price have garnered more attention. Thomas is part of a must-watch offensive juggernaut. Price’s surprising early season success and slew of touchdown passes started drawing national interest a few weeks ago.
Meanwhile, Foles is quietly putting up good numbers, but taking a beating on the field and a pounding on the scoreboard. It wasn’t until coach Mike Stoops was fired after five consecutive losses that Foles returned to the spotlight. As a senior leader, he became a spokesman for a team trying to pick up the pieces of a season that went wrong.
But in front of a national TV audience on Oct. 20, Foles served a reminder that he’s pretty darn good, throwing for 291 yards and three touchdowns in Arizona’s 48-12 trouncing of UCLA.
“It’s hard to tell if you are getting overlooked or not,” Foles said. “I’m not looking for the appreciation. It’s wins or losses, and I didn’t do enough to get wins. Fans and media and all of that stuff is out of my control. At the end of the day, all I can control is how my team does.”
Foles returns to Husky Stadium on Saturday night – a place of not-so-fond memories – to lead an Arizona team that hasn’t given up on its postseason hopes. He will face a defense that has made lesser quarterbacks look like John Elway.
“I think he’s been playing good football now for quite some time in our conference,” Huskies coach Steve Sarkisian said.
Maybe that’s why people tend to forget about Foles. It seems like he’s been leading the Wildcats for the better part of a decade. Saturday will be the 29th start of his college career.
And in those 28 starts and two other games he didn’t start, he’s thrown for 8,223 yards and 57 touchdowns, statistics that place him second in school history behind Willie Tuitama, who has 8,727 career passing yards and 67 touchdowns. Foles looks like a good bet to break both records, and will also end up being Arizona’s career leader in pass completions, completion percentage, pass attempts and possibly total offense.
It seems Arizona’s opponents appreciate what Foles does more than perhaps the average college football fan.
“He’s one of the better quarterbacks, not just in our conference, but also in the country,” UCLA coach Rick Neuheisel said. “They lead with him. It’s a prudent decision because he’s that talented. I watched the game against Stanford where he completed his first 17 passes. Having played Stanford, I know what kind of defense they have. That’s not easy to do. This is a bona-fide guy that will be a first-day pick at the next level.”
Said Huskies offensive coordinator Doug Nussmeier: “He’s a prototypical NFL style quarterback. He’s a big guy that can make all throws. And he’s pretty accurate.”
Foles leads the Pac-12 in passing and is fourth in the country at 363 yards per game. He’s completed 227 of 320 passes for 2,541 yards and 18 touchdowns with five interceptions.
“For him to put the numbers he’s put up is no surprise to any of us here,” Arizona interim coach Tim Kish said.
But for Kish, Foles has been just as important beyond the stats.
“He’s been a great leader for us,” Kish said. “He’s remained cool under a lot of pressure we had here lately.”
The pressure has been on and off the field. Behind an inexperienced offensive line, Foles has been sacked 14 times this season. But having to deal with the losing streak and the Stoops firing were just as uncomfortable.
“When a head coach gets fired, it is on you as player,” Foles said. “We were the ones out there not getting it done on the field.”
Foles was on the field at Husky Stadium two years ago when the Wildcats blew a 33-21 lead in the fourth quarter.
Foles, who threw for 384 yards on 36-for-53 passing, was trying to stave off the late Washington charge.
He tried to throw one of the many short passes that had gashed the Huskies that day, but a low throw hit Delashaun Dean’s foot and bounced to Mason Foster, who returned it 37 yards for a touchdown. The play was reviewed but the call stood. A two-point conversion would seal the Huskies’ improbable 36-33 win.
“I watched it a few times, and people sent me some pictures of it,” Foles said about whether the ball hit the ground or not. “The ref said it hit the foot, and there’s nothing I’m going to say that’s going to change it.”
He was injured for last year’s meeting with the Huskies. Now he comes into the game to face one of the nation’s worst pass defenses.
Under Kish, Foles was allowed to script 13 of the first 18 plays against UCLA with offensive coordinator Seth Littrell. He will do that again this week.
“They are asking for more of my input in what to do on offense,” Foles said. “I’m more involved in the game plan.”
His scripted plays produced over 100 yards and two touchdowns.
“He just has such great vision and understanding of what we are trying to get accomplished,” Kish said. “He’s tough to beat.”
Ryan Divish: 253-597-8483 ryan.divish@thenewstribune.com blog.thenewstribune.com/uwsports
A Throwing Machine
Arizona quarterback Nick Foles leads the Pac-12 in passing attempts, completions and yards. A game-by-game look at Foles’ season:
DATEOPPONENTCOMATTPCTYARDSTDINT
Sep. 3Northern Arizona344281.041750
Sep. 8@Oklahoma State375172.539810
Sep. 17Stanford243372.723910
Sep. 24Oregon345759.639830
Oct. 1@USC415377.442542
Oct. 8@Oregon State314568.937812
Oct. 20UCLA26 3966.729131
Totals22732070.92,546185
