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UA passing stats way behind Wednesday, Feb 13, 2008 By Harry King LITTLE ROCK - Looking for passing and receiving Razorbacks in the Southeastern Conference record book, the quest was detoured by John Reaves. Remember Reaves? He was a quarterback at Florida and the years he played are more significant than any of his numbers. Prior to the 2007 season, Reaves was No. 16 in career pass attempts in the league and No. 18 in career passing yards. The thing is, Reaves was a Gator almost 40 years ago. Two of the three years that Reaves was chunking for Florida, Bill Montgomery was the quarterback at Arkansas and a side-by-side is striking. Reaves attempted 1,128 passes and completed 603 for 7,549 yards. Montgomery tried 602 and completed 337 for 4,590 yards. For the inquisitive, Florida was 19-12-1 during Reaves' tenure and Arkansas was 28-5 with Montgomery. Players are piling up passing stats so fast that Reaves will disappear from the 2008 media guide, bumped from the career yardage chart by Andre Woodson of Kentucky and Erik Ainge of Tennessee. Woodson's 3,709 put him over 9,300 yards and Ainge's 3,522 kicked him past 7,500. There are more games than there were in Montgomery's day, but both Woodson and Ainge topped 500 attempts last season. And, Ainge's ranking is temporary. Alabama quarterback John Parker Wilson is past 5,600 yards with a year to go and Florida's Tim Tebow accumulated 3,286 in his sophomore year. Clint Stoerner, the only Arkansas quarterback who could be found in any of the major categories, also will be pushed aside by Woodson and Ainge. For a time, his 7,422 yards was worth a spot in the top 20. Virtually every position on every meaningful list - pass attempts, completions, yards gain per year, and per career - is occupied by players who have competed in the SEC since Arkansas joined in 1992. The stats compiled these days can immunize a fan against anything less than staggering and I hope the accomplishments of Ryan Mallett or Jim Youngblood or Tyler Wilson or a quarterback to be signed later will be viewed with proper appreciation by Razorback rooters. For instance, Colt Brennan at Hawaii threw for 400 yards or more in 16 of his 38 games. Yawn. At Arkansas, 300 yards is a big deal. Only nine times in Razorback history has an Arkansas quarterback thrown for 300 or more. Brennan topped that plateau 30 times. The Razorback record is 387 by Stoerner against LSU in 1998. Between Stoerner and Joe Ferguson, they recorded two-thirds of the 300-yard-plus games. Through the years, Arkansas' passing numbers have been so far behind most of college football that in the UA media guide, there is a full page devoted to the 35 games of 250 yards or more by Arkansas throwers. Alabama and Mississippi State are also noticeably absent from the SEC recitation of the passing records. Mississippi qualifies only because of Eli Manning. Rule changes, the enthusiasm for seven-on-seven football in high school, and the wants of fans have contributed to schools throwing more. Beginning in 1970, the SEC leader in passing offense only topped 3,000 yards twice in 20 years. From 1990 on, 3,086 was the minimum and the high end was more than 3,500 yards on a dozen occasions. Quick tosses and comeback screens are avenues of opportunity for playmakers like Percy Harvin of Florida. At Arkansas, incoming freshman Joe Adams could be one of the beneficiaries of similar plays. The corollary to the quarterback stats manifests in passes caught. Prior to '07, it took 72 catches to make the top 20 in one season in the SEC, but Lucas Taylor of Tennessee grabbed 73 and bumped three others. The bottom rung for career catches will be 161 after the record-keepers note the 194 receptions by DJ Hall at Alabama. The Arkansas record holders are J.J. Meadors with 62 in 1995 and Anthony Eubanks with 153 from 1994-97. Montgomery's favorite target, Chuck Dicus, caught 118 in three years with a season-high 42. ------- Harry King is sports columnist for Stephens Media's Arkansas News Bureau. His e-mail address is hking@arkansasnews.com. |
