Bowling Green State University Athletics
BG's Harris very elusive, defies description
August 25, 2003 | Football
(originally published November 29, 2002)
BOWLING GREEN - They saw the gaudy numbers glowing like a star in the sky, so they had to come see just who was behind all of this point production. As Josh Harris led the nation in scoring and directed a 50-points-per-game offense that was tops in the country through the first half of the season, there was an endless parade to his doorstep.
Writers, reporters, TV types and the mavens of the internet all made pilgrimages to Bowling Green State University's Doyt Perry Stadium. The believers and nonbelievers all came. Every dot-com-er in the country with a college football connection had a posting on Harris. The experts, both the self-proclaimed and the ones who have the audacity to make that part of their title, all queued up to get their chance to dissect Josh Harris.
They said he was stoic, aloof, and brainy. They suggested he was not fully committed to football. Harris was called soft-spoken, or he was brooding, or he was an intellectual uncomfortable among gladiators. His veracity was problematic for some. If something had an odor, he said it stank. If a nonsensical question came his way, Harris did not hesitate to call it that.
The quandary they found themselves in was: there was no word or words to accurately describe him. So they all missed the mark. There was no definition for him, because Harris was redefining the quarterback position, certainly in the Mid-American Conference. Harris leads the Falcons (9-2, 6-1) against rival Toledo (8-3, 6-1) in the final game of the season tomorrow, with the winner getting a share of the MAC West title and a likely bowl bid.
"I think we all recognized pretty much right away that Josh was different. He was a quarterback, a running back, and a coach on the field," Bowling Green senior center Jon Mazur said. "He gave us the feeling that a big play could break at any time."
When Harris took over as the Falcons' quarterback in the ninth game last season, defending against Bowling Green became much more complicated. He had the howitzer arm, a tight end's shoulders, a tailback's leg drive, the steely determination of a fighter pilot, and the ability to make a broken play turn out to be the best on in a drive.
Those were mostly the external tools, the assets that even the untrained eye could see after watching Harris for just a few plays. But the Division 1-A practice fields are littered with guys who can run and throw. Harris had to have something more.
"You can't put your finger on it, but when a guy is a natural leader, you just know it when you see it or you feel it," BG receiver Robert Redd said. "Josh has a command over the situation. People listen when he says something to them, and every guy in that huddle believes in his heart that he's going to take us to the end zone. That confidence comes out in every word he says."
Near the end of last season, Harris orchestrated a 43-42 win over Northwestern, the defending Big Ten champion. That game shot Harris to the forefront on the national scene as he rushed for 96 years and two touchdowns, passed for 402 years (30 of 47) and three more touchdowns, and caught a touchdown pass himself. He was the only 1-A player to run for a touchdown, pass for a touchdown and catch a touchdown pass in the same game. His 496 yards of offense in the game was the second highest in MAC history.
"His intangibles are as good as anybody in the country," BG coach Urban Meyer said of his 6-3, 225-pound junior. "He's a leaders, he's a competitor, and he's a guy who wants the ball in crunch time. That's how you analyze what makes up a great player.
"Josh is like a Chris Speilman, a Cris Carter, or some of the great players I've been around. They want the ball. They don't want the ball when you're winning 63-21, they want the ball when it's 7-7 and it's fourth down and two. That's what makes him a different-level player than a lot of other quarterbacks."
When the Falcons were locked in an overtime battle with Western Michigan, Harris took over. And the 48-45 win allowed Bowling Green to extend its unbeaten streak to six games and preserve its place in the national rankings.
"Most of the guys who play this game, they play to perform well, to make plays every week," Harris said. "Skill guys play to make plays. That is their role. I thrive on that. That is fuel for me. I want to feel like I have played the best game I could play, whether it is against a good team or a bad team."
When Bowling Green went to the spread offense after Meyer took over, the quarterback moved into the crosshairs. He had to make a multitude of reads as he scanned the defense. With more receivers on the field, the fullback position was eliminated, and Harris often was alone in the backfield. That opened the book on his abilities.
"Whenever anybody says Bowling Green uses a no-back set, I have to correct them," said Mark Miller, a former Falcon quarterback who does the color commentary on the BG football games. "Josh Harris is a powerful tailback when he runs the football. If he is in the shotgun, with his running ability, that isn't a no-back set.
"The type of offense they are running with Josh back there is something different than Bowling Green has run before. It's the kind of offense that takes a great athlete at quarterback, one who is equally adept at running r and passing. We've had a lot of great quarterbacks here over the years, but most of them were strong pocket passers. Josh brings great size and deceptive speed to the position, and he is so strong. I've seen him split defenders a lot of times to gain more yards. He just has such a versatility for that position."
Toledo coach Tom Amstutz said Bowling Green's offense is fashioned to get the maximum benefit from a talent like Harris.
Josh Harris is a tremendous athlete first," Amstutz said. "He can run with it and throw it. They use him the right ways. They give him a chance to have the football, and he just keeps making plays."
In a number of games, Harris has been both the leading passer and the featured running back. He has caught three passes this season, and two of those have gone for touchdowns. The pressure from all of those responsibilities is shrugged off rather matter-of-factly.
"Here in this program, if the quarterback plays well in the offense, your team will win," Harris said. "If your quarterback does not play well, it" If your quarterback does not play well, it's going to be hard for the team to win because we're given so much responsibility. It's in the job description."
Harris, an interpersonal communications major whose father, M.L. Harris, played 10 years in the NFL, is a stickler for detail. He will sometimes openly chastise a teammate on the playing field for a missed block or an improperly run route. His post-game self-critique is often harsh and nit-picky. Harris said his predecessor at starting quarterback, senior Andy Sahm, taught him a lot about constantly seeking perfection.
""We are pushed to do all of the little things the right way, to do things perfectly," Harris said. "Even in a win, I might be upset at a certain play or series because we just didn't do it properly. Anytime there is a fall-off in points or in production, that is a reflection on the quarterback. Andy was a perfectionist when I got here, and I've turned into one. Even if you're having success, there is always something you can do better."
Harris got tossed into the fire as a freshman when former coach Gary Blackney, who had already resigned his post, peeled the redshirt off Harris midway through a 2-9 season and used him at tailback for four games. Harris started the final game of the year at quarterback, a 51-17 loss at Toledo that Harris would rather wipe from his memory. But he won't give himself that luxury.
"I definitely wanted to forget that game, but I also wanted to remember it because I don't ever want it to happen again," Harris said. "I put it behind me, but I didn't let it go."
At first pass, that may sound somewhat enigmatic, but that is Harris. The dark eyes pierce before there is even a hint of a smile. He talks, he watches, he thinks - all - at the same time, all on different subjects. Some mistook that complexity for distance and assumed football just wasn't his priority.
"That's not true at all," Meyer said. "Josh Harris is a tough competitor. He's always thinking, and he's always a leader. He went through a very difficult situation where they were not successful and he got thrown into battle as a true freshman, and he just got killed. But what we see now is a mature and determined quarterback."
Miller said Harris, whose 56.9 completion percentage is the second-highest in BG history, has added finesse to his repertoire, and that makes him even more dangerous.
"I've seen him grow as a passer," Miller said. "He has learned how to touch the ball a little. Early on he'd throw a little dump-off pass like a rocket, but he knows how to throw it now. He has smoothed the edges and just gotten stronger in every phase of the game."
After Harris orchestrated routs of Missouri and Kansas early this season, he turned some heads on the national scene. Harris already had the attention of his BG team, which he is turned into the highest-scoring offense in the history of the MAC this season.
"When Josh said let's do this and this and win the football game, everybody listened and believed," Redd said. "It's kind of like, come with me, or get out of the way. His drive is a contagious thing."
Harris has helped make Redd the all-time leading receiver in BG history, while guiding the Falcons to a MAC-best 42.4 points per game this season. Bowling Green is 12-2 since he took over at quarterback, and averages 470 yards per game.
"Josh has matured quickly, and there are a couple of ways you can tell a kid's maturity level, "Miller said. "First, if they make big plays at critical times, and he's always had a penchant for doing that. Then you also look at how they play late in the game when you're behind. In the game against Western Michigan he was just awesome. They just rode him to victory."
A knee injury slowed Harris for a couple of games this season and cost him the national scoring lead, and when the Falcons stumbled and lost at Northern Illinois and at South Florida, the national ranking went as well. While Harris deflects the laudatory comments that come with BG's success, he seems to take responsibility when things have not worked out. "Sometimes I do take it personal, because I think everyone has to be accountable, in good and bad situations," Harris said. "I want to win, so anything short of that would, obviously, be disappointing to me."
Miller compared Harris to former Virginia Tech quarterback Michael Vick, now a budding star in the National Football League.
"He reminds me of Michael Vick after watching him on film," said Toledo linebacker Tom Ward, the leading tackler in the MAC. "He can run very well and he can cut back and forth. Once you get him out of the pocket and scrambling, boom, he hits something deep for a big play, or he takes off running and leaves you frustrated."
When he runs the football, Harris departs from the standard quarterback manual and uses his broad frame to punish the secondary. While most quarterback dive and duck and cover up, Harris expresses an open disdain for the slide.
"I always try and keep the play going - until it gets to the end zone," Harris said. "I feel like you always play to the whistle. If I can see an alternative, if I can see somewhere to go to avoid the tackle, then I'm going to do that. Why not try and make a play?"
Harris, who knows where his bread is buttered, first seeks out his offensive linemen after every touchdown, and there have been 62 this year, two off the MAC record. Harris won over the guys in the trenches early on, and has taken them places they never dreamed of.
"You want to play with great players. You want to be around guys who are confident and successful," said Mazur, a BG captain. "You want to play with guys who are demanding and expect an all-out effort on every play. You want to play with guys who are winners. Josh Harris is all of those things, but that is just a fraction of what he is, and what he means to this team. It is a tough thing to describe."
That is precisely the media's problem.
"When you see him play, then you'll understand," Mazur said.
