Nick Daschel is a veteran sports writer and columnist who has worked on the West coast for nearly three decades. Nick has covered the Pac-10 for about 15 years, primarily focusing on the Northwest schools.
Corvallis, Ore. | One of the most interesting story lines heading into the Pac-10’s 2009 season is the league’s lack of quarterback experience and how it will impact play.
As many as eight Pac-10 quarterbacks who didn’t start the team’s final game in 2008 may take over that role in the 2009 opener. The only bona fide locks to return are Oregon’s Jeremiah Masoli and Washington’s Jake Locker, and even those two play for a new head coach.
Oregon State’s Lyle Moevao figured to be among the safe, after throwing for 2,534 yards and 19 touchdowns in 2008. Yet he won’t take a snap this spring, and in fact, hasn’t jogged a yard in two months.
That’s no way for Moevao to prepare for his senior season.
And yet, the two-year starter has no other choice. Moevao underwent rotator cuff surgery on March 11, almost four months after injuring his shoulder late in the 2008 season. In the meantime Sean Canfield, another senior and a former starter, is having a solid spring. In the Beavers’ first spring scrimmage last Friday, Canfield threw for 278 yards and four touchdowns.
All Moevao can do at the moment is encourage a teammate who is trying to take his job. And he seems OK with that.
“A lot of people don’t understand these are the same two seniors who grew up together as sophomores and juniors. We’ve really come a long way together,” Moevao said.
Moevao answered a few questions for Buster Sports following practice earlier this week:
Q: When can you start to cut loose?
Moevao: The doctor said about two weeks, I’d be able to run and then do more things. As for throwing, it’ll probably be more than a month.
Q: You can’t even run right now?
Moevao: They won’t let me run or drop or anything, because my shoulder will bounce and they’re afraid the anchors will come out of the bone.
Q: Is it your expectation that you’ll be 100 percent or close to it by August?
Moevao: Oh yeah. I expect to be 100 percent even before camp starts.
Q: What’s been your take on the quarterback play this spring?
Moevao: It’s been good. Sean is doing a great job of leading them and setting a good example for the younger guys. And the younger guys have really grown from where they were last spring.
Q: Going into preseason camp, do you have the mindset that the job is yours, or do you feel like you’ll have to earn the job again?
Moevao: You always have to go in with the mindset that the job is yours. But it’s just a matter of working at it and getting that feeling you had before.
Q: The Pac-10 is really low on starting quarterback experience for 2009. But is experience really all that big of a deal? Seems that you were good about your second or third start, and Jeremiah Masoli didn’t take long before he was up to speed.
Moevao: Most of it is the learning process leading up to the chance to play. If you’re well prepared for what is to come, you should be fine when you get out there. It shouldn’t take that long to get the hang of it. It’s the preparation leading up to the time you get your shot is what’s important. It’s something I tried to do and something I’ll have to do again this summer.
Q: Amazed that you were able to make some of the throws in the Civil War and Sun Bowl knowing the type of injury you had?
Moevao: Yeah, definitely. Especially after hearing back from the doctor and all the reports he had to give me, how most people wouldn’t even be able to do office work faced with the type of injury I had. It was definitely surprising to me, but at the same time, I was focused on who we were playing and who we had to prepare for rather than what was going on with me.
Q: Was there ever a throw in one of those games when you thought, man, something’s not right?
Moevao: Not really. I felt pretty good during the games. The week was probably the hardest part. When it came to game day, the blood was flowing.
Q: What kind of relationship do you have with Sean Canfield?
Moevao: We have a great relationship off the field. I think a lot better than people expect. Off the field, we hang out quite a bit, and we’re really pretty close.
Q: Why do you think you guys have persevered? A lot of times the guy who doesn’t get the start sulks or transfers.
Moevao: Because we’re working with each other rather than against each other. I think Sean is a really good quarterback. He has a lot of different qualities than I may not have, or abilities, and I may have some that he may not have. We just kind of feed off each other.
Nick Daschel covers the Pacific-10 Conference for Buster Sports, and can be reached at ndaschel@bustersports.com. You can also follow Nick on Twitter
Comments