Pac-10 QBsmaking noise

Pac-10 QBsmaking noise

By Kevin Clerici
Arizona Daily Wildcat
October 1, 1996

The Associated Press
Arizona Daily Wildcat
Jake Plummer (16) has done a lot of celebrating this season while quarterbacking the Sun Devils to a No. 5 ranking and a 4-0 record.

With some startling point totals being scored this season, the Pacific 10 Conference has been the showcase for several quarterbacks, from seniors to freshmen.
While Arizona State's Jake Plummer and California's Pat Barnes are breaking records in their senior seasons, Washington State's Ryan Leaf and Stanford's Chad Hutchinson have played beyond their relative inexperience.

Plummer and the rest of the Sun Devils moved into the No. 5 position in The Associated Press poll over the weekend, the first time they have been in the top five since finishing No. 4 after their 1987 Rose Bowl win.
Plummer is now the all-time passing leader in ASU history with 7,024 yards and ranks 15th in Pac-10 history.
In his last eight games, Plummer has a 19-4 touchdown-to-interception ratio, with an 11-2 ratio so far this season. With 52 career touchdown passes, Plummer now stands ninth in Pac-10 history. Saturday's game was his 32nd consecutive start.
Arizona State is 4-0 for the first time since 1982, when it started 8-0. Their 2-0 record is tops in the Pac-10.
"We have the making of a very special team," ASU head coach Bruce Snyder said. "We won't really know until November or December, but at this point, this team has all the earmarks of a special team. I think that we are a lot of fun to watch."

California stands undefeated with a 4-0 record and already has more wins than all of last season, when it went 3-8. Its latest win was a 48-42 triple-overtime defeat of Oregon State. It is the second time this year a Pac-10 game has gone into overtime and the longest overtime in Division I history to date.
"Somebody up there likes us," Cal head coach Steve Mariucci said. "I was proud of the way that we kept playing and didn't lose our marbles."
Barnes has thrown for 18 touchdowns in his last seven games and is second in the Pac-10 in total offense this season with a 266.8-yard average.
Barnes has been sacked only three times all season. Cal is averaging 480.5 yards a game and a Pac-10-leading 42 points per game.
While the offense is at the top of its game, the defense has struggled. Currently ninth in the Pac-10 and 104th in the nation, the Bears' defense Saturday gave up the most points of any conference team this season.
"As a team player, I really don't care because we are winning," Cal defensive end Andy Jacobs said. "As a defensive player, it is terrible."

Stanford has lost two games so far this year, but at 11 points allowed per game has the best scoring defense, not to mention one of the top quarterbacks in the league. Redshirt freshman Chad Hutchinson is completing 61 percent of his passes, tops in the c onference. Hutchinson has remained consistent, starting in only the third game of his career.
His top receiver, flanker Brian Manning, is just 377 yards shy of becoming the Cardinal's all-time leader in receiving yardage. Manning's receptions have gone for 2,106 yards.

Pac-10 player of the week awards were handed to Leaf for offense, ASU's Pat Tillman for defense and the Bears' Ryan Longwell for special teams.
Leaf completed 16 of 25 for 355 yards and four touchdowns without an interception in WSU's 52-16 defeat of San Jose State. He is fifth in the nation with a 168.1 quarterback rating.
Tillman had an interception, fumble recovery, two pass deflections, 13 tackles, a sack and an on-side kick recovery.
Longwell's 48.4 punting average on five punts Saturday upped his season average to 47.62, third best in the nation.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.