Bowling Green State University Athletics
Heisman Watch: Bowling Green QB Harris Does It All
October 15, 2002 | Football
Oct. 15, 2002
By Dennis Dodd, Sportsline.com Senior Writer - With 73 seconds left in the third quarter of Saturday's game against Central Michigan, Bowling Green had run out of linebackers. By the end of the game, an incredible rash of injuries would actually claim five defensive starters.
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Nursing his depleted roster and a 10-point lead, Falcons coach Urban Meyer had a lot of options but only one player in mind to bleed the clock.
"We put the saddle on Josh really the last two drives of the game," Meyer said of junior quarterback Josh Harris. "He's such a competitor. He's an intellect, a 3.5 student. He doesn't live and die football. But during the course of the game he doesn't have to be very smart when he says, 'Give me the ball, I'll get that first down.'"
On those final two scoring drives, Harris rushed for 77 yards, eight first downs and two touchdowns. It was a productive display from one of the best unknown offensive talents in the country.
Harris has the legs of this week's Heisman Watch frontrunner Seneca Wallace. He has an arm that is good enough to rank fourth in MAC passing efficiency. Perhaps no quarterback has combined both talents as well this season.
"I don't think anyone really in college football (does)," said Meyer after Harris ran for 138 yards and threw for 176 against Central Michigan. " ... It's very risky, especially playing on artificial turf with a physical team. I had visions in my mind that we were going to blow that whole season if Josh went down."
The Bowling Green season probably would drive off a cliff if Harris went down. With him, the Falcons (5-0) are having their best season in 17 years. No. 25 Bowling Green is one of only 10 undefeated teams remaining in the country and is ranked in both major polls for the first time.
Bowling Green has the nation's highest-scoring offense (49.6 points), is seventh in rushing (254.6 yards) and second in total offense (500.8) yards. The biggest reason is Harris. He has touched the ball on a rush or pass on 207 of the team's 372 plays. He has accounted for 58 percent of the Falcons' yards.
The best indicator: Bowling Green is the only team in the country averaging 240 yards per game in both rushing and passing. The problem is that the MAC is so deep in offensive stars that it is hard for Harris to stand out.
Marshall's Byron Leftwich is a Heisman candidate and a likely first-round draft choice. Toledo's Brian Jones has thrown one interception in 149 attempts. Kent State quarterback Joshua Cribbs is third nationally in rushing. Miami (Ohio) quarterback Ben Roethlisberger is coming off a 525-yard, four-touchdown game.
"Josh Harris is such a dangerous threat that it is almost impossible to contain a player like that," said Central Michigan coach Mike DeBord after Harris sealed the Falcons' 45-35 victory.
The 6-foot-3, 235-pounder isn't a one-man team but the description wouldn't be far off. Harris' true value is reflected in the relatively new NCAA stat of "points responsible for." Harris leads the nation, producing 24.8 points per game. The school claims that only Miami's Ken Dorsey (32-1 as a starter) has a better record than Harris (9-1) among current quarterbacks with a minimum of 10 starts.
The problem has been getting Harris to love his job more. He didn't become the starter until late last season. And with a 3.06 GPA in Interpersonal Communications, Harris realizes there is more to life than football.
"I'm enjoying football a lot more," he said. "I can't say that I'm a fanatic but I'm getting there. In high school, you can get away without loving football. It wasn't hard my first year of college but then coach Meyer got here and it was physically exhausting. That made you think. You wondered if it was worth it, and it is worth it."
It's easy for football to be worth it when you're winning. The Falcons have been so good that they were "tied" for the Big 12 lead until last weekend. They had beaten Kansas and Missouri, the 2-0 record against Big 12 teams matching that of No. 10 Iowa State and No.2 Oklahoma.
Meyer made it clear when he took over before last season that things were going to change. More than 20 players left the program within three months after he arrived.
"There was a lot of dead weight on this team," Meyer said. "There were a lot of bad-attitude guys. I've seen it done, you try to make it the most unmerciful, hard three or four months and get those guys out and go with what you got."
Meyer admits that at first he wasn't comfortable with Harris' less-than-gung-ho attitude.
"I'm going to take a shot at myself here, I'm that way," said Meyer, a former Notre Dame assistant under Lou Holtz and Bob Davie. "I like the guy with blood coming out of his nose and 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."
Meyer compares Harris to former Notre Dame quarterback Jarious Jackson. The only other similarity with the Irish is the undefeated record. Bowling Green went 11-0 in 1985 but lost the Cal Bowl. It was the NCAA college division champion in 1959 at 9-0.
It's that kind of history, or lack of it, that will hurt Harris and the Falcons. But a switch from the MAC East division to the West means they won't have to play Marshall, which has lost only five league games in five years.
With the help of Harris' feet, arm and mind, the Falcons can win their first outright MAC title in 10 years.
"I'm having a great time," Harris said. "It's still a job. But it's a fun job."
This week's ballot:
1. Seneca Wallace, QB, Iowa State -- Ran more than 70 yards from sideline to sideline for a 12-yard touchdown run against Texas Tech. Get the tape. Study it. Save it. This could be Wallace's Heisman moment. "I don't think there was any question, it was easily over 100 yards," coach Dan McCarney said.
2. Byron Leftwich, QB, Marshall -- A four-touchdown, 447-yard performance would be impressive against air. Leftwich did it in a half, then left the game against Buffalo.
3. Willis McGahee, RB, Miami -- How can Ken Dorsey be ranked ahead of his teammate on any Heisman list? Florida State got in his face, rattled Dorsey and almost pulled off the upset. McGahee was clutch, running 68 yards with a screen pass to set up the winning touchdown. Accounted for 173 yards in Miami's biggest test of the season.
