Bowling Green State University Athletics
Harris Has Passion For Several Things
October 10, 2002 | Football
Oct. 10, 2002
by Elton Alexander, Plain Dealer Reporter - Josh Harris may be different, but so what. He may also be the most eclectic quarterback in the Mid-American Conference.
"The best" is how Bowling Green second-year coach Urban Meyer describes his relatively unheralded but highly productive MAC hybrid of a quarterback.
The 6-3, 235-pound junior can beat you with his arm and his head like Marshall's Byron Leftwich, or he can beat you with his feet like Kent State's Joshua Cribbs.
But unlike Leftwich and Cribbs, who express an exuberance for the sport that coaches crave from all their players, Harris, is defined by his coaches as "different." In reality, he's just a football player with a life.
"I don't know that he has one specific [passion]," quarterback coach Dan Mullins said. "He's always looking to try new things. I know he came to ask if he could take extra credits this semester so he could learn how to play the piano."
"I just love music," Harris said. "I like Alicia Keys. Anything I hear. I'm interested in lots of things."
At Bowling Green, at least, the Neanderthal football coaches mentality is being challenged.
"I'm going to take a shot at myself here. I'm that way," Meyer, 38, admits. "I like the guy with blood coming out of his nose and the big cut lip. That's all I want to be around. But I'm also smart enough to know you got to treat each guy like an individual."
Along with music, Harris enjoys history and Cosby Show reruns among other things, and has already twice been named scholar-athlete of the week in the MAC with a 3.06 GPA in Interpersonal Communications. For football coaches with single-track minds, diversity like that can throw them a curve.
So, when Meyer recently had one of the original "wild dogs in the meat market" a sho nuff "slobber-knocker," former NFL player Chris Spielman, speak to the team, Meyer probably didn't look to see whether Harris was paying attention.
"He's a different guy," Meyer said of Harris, who has already thrown for six touchdowns, run for eight and caught two touchdown passes this season. "He's an intellect, very intellectual. Josh Harris is not a guy who the only thing in his life is football. Academics are very important to him. His family is very important to him.
"Football is becoming more important to him, but I'm not sure football was in his top 10 when we got here. I know it wasn't because he told me. That alarmed me. My initial reaction was, 'He'll never play quarterback for me.' "
Man, that has surely changed. Harris is the trigger behind the only undefeated (4-0, 1-0) football team in the MAC. He's big enough to overpower defenders, nimble enough to elude many more, and has a whip-cracking passing arm Meyer mimics with a broad smile on his face.
So what if Harris can enjoy a plate that is rich and full with art, culture and curiosity, plus a morsel of football. When the game is on the line, he still has a proven thirst for the jugular and the talent to rip that throat out.
After Bowling Green's 51-28 upset over the Missouri Tigers in September, wide receiver Robert Redd was quoted: "I can remember what he said during the Missouri game. 'Listen up, fellas. Let's score real quick and put these guys away.' "
Against Ohio University, a team that has gone against Pittsburgh and Florida this season, Bobcats coach Brian Knorr said of Harris: "Give that quarterback credit. We have faced some pretty good quarterbacks and this guy is as good as I've seen in this league."
Not bad for a former Westerville North High player who never played football with the mind-set it was the "only" thing in his life. It was just "another" thing in his life.
"I really wasn't a super big football fan until recently," Harris admits. "I played it because I always played it. I was good and I got a scholarship at it."
Harris didn't become Bowling Green's full-time starter until the end of last season. And he still shares time with his backup, Andy Sahm. In Bowling Green's most recent victory, 72-21, over OU, Harris played the first three quarters, but scored four touchdowns rushing and passed for two more.
For Harris, that game marked a full circle for him. It coincided with his upgrade in football interest, along with his comfort running the offense, and a sense of faith from coaches finally at peace with a player who does not fit their mold.
"The OU game last year, I felt like I finally had a clue," Harris said. "And I felt really trusted moreso than at any other point in the season. I felt like it was an opportunity, and I really had to take advantage of it."
He finished last year strong and started this season stronger. With Harris in charge, the Falcons have defeated the likes of Kansas and Missouri out of the Big 12 Conference already this season. They rank No. 1 in the country in scoring offense (50.75 points a game), No. 5 in rushing (261.2 yards), and No. 13 in total offense (525 ypg).
Already Meyer moans because he has just one season left after this with Harris as his leader. He played as a true freshman at Bowling Green, primarily at tailback. Harris never got the redshirt season so many quarterbacks get to learn the offense before getting on the field to direct it.
"Can you imagine him with two more years," Meyer said as he struck a Heisman Trophy pose. "We'd be talking something special."
At the same time, one gets the sense from Meyer his quarterback still ranks football much farther down the list than the coach would like. "Top 10? Top five?" Meyer was asked.
"As long as he's successful, and a good leader," Meyer replied, as if embarrassed to list football anything but No. 1. "In general, there are just not a lot of Chris Spielman's anymore. They are dinosaurs."
None of that seems to bother Harris one way or another. Soft-spoken, but clearly heard, Harris is happy and obviously doing quite well.
"I'm having a great time," he said of playing football. "It's still a job. But it's a fun job. It's a job that I enjoy."
