Wide-open Big Ten race up for grabs

Purdue is the only projected first-division team with a returning veteran at quarterback in Kyle Orton, the preseason Big Ten Offensive Player of the Year.

Of the other five title contenders, only Ohio State has not made what appears to be a firm commitment to one player. Coach Jim Tressel suggests the duel between redshirt sophomores Justin Zwick and Troy Smith may not be settled until the Buckeyes open Big Ten play Oct. 2 at Northwestern.

"I wish there was more (personnel) turnover on the defenses," Orton joked. "I guess it's going to give us a little bit of an advantage having an experienced quarterback. That should mean we're not going to let defenses mess with us as much as we're going to mess with them."

Purdue coach Joe Tiller takes some comfort in having a battle-tested quarterback, but he's also holding his breath like everybody else.

"I don't know about the (quarterback) talent coming in," Tiller said. "Sometimes who's coming in the door is more important than who's going out."

Indeed, the three teams judged by the Big Ten media to finish first (Michigan), second (OSU) and third (Iowa) all have projected starters who were tremendous high school players.

Michigan's Matt Gutierrez is a product of Concord (Calif.) De LaSalle, where he did not lose a game since the ninth grade and led his team to two mythical national championships while passing for 5,032 yards with 64 touchdowns and only nine interceptions.

Ohio State's Justin Zwick led Orrville to a state title as a freshman before transferring to Massillon, where he set state passing records and turned in All-America performances.

Iowa's Drew Tate, holds numerous Texas prep records.

Less heralded but expected to play equally prominent roles are Wisconsin's John Stocco and Minnesota's Bryan Cupito. Cupito, a product of Cincinnati McNicholas, replaces three-year starter Asad Abdul-Khaliq.

"I thought Cupito performed very, very well at spring practice," said Minnesota coach Glen Mason. "On the other hand, does he have the same body strength and movement as Abdul-Khaliq? No. But Abdul-Khalig is not as accurate a passer as Cupito."

Minnesota isn't the only team that will be able to do some things offensively with its new quarterback that it couldn't with its old. Tate, like Cupito, is considered a better passer than the player he is replacing at Iowa, Nathan Chandler. Gutierrez gives Michigan more mobility at the position than it had with John Navarre.

"The truth is, you're going to make mistakes," Michigan coach Lloyd Carr said of young quarterbacks. "That's the only way you can learn. Failure is not avoidable at that position.

"The higher profile program you play in the more criticism you face. It's something you have to deal with. You also have to deal with playing on the road where the crowd is loud. All of these things factor into the pressure you have to deal with.

"I don't try to shield (my quarterbacks). I try to prepare them for it. Inevitably, the time is going to come when they are going to have to prove they can go out and do it."

Ohio State and Michigan will debut new starting quarterbacks in the same season for the first time since 1993.

"It's never a good year to transition to a new quarterback; you'd love to have that 10-year veteran," Tressel said. "The emergence of the quarterback on a lot of teams is going to have a lot to do with the conference race.

"But even the teams that have a returning quarterback, what about the health of that quarterback and his progression? We had a chance to be pretty good (in 2003) if Craig Krenzel continued to get better. If he didn't play as well as he did in 2002, that would have affected our role in the conference race.

"So I don't think any of us are devoid of having issues with our quarterback play."

Three of the last five Big Ten champions won with quarterbacks in their first year of starting regularly -- Wisconsin with Brooks Bollinger in 1999, Michigan and Northwestern shared a title with Drew Henson and Zak Kustok, respectively in 2000, and OSU and Iowa tied behind Krenzel and Brad Banks in 2002.

Of course, those teams all had marquee tailbacks to help take the onus off the newbies behind center. At Wisconsin, it was Heisman Trophy winner Ron Dayne. Michigan had Anthony Thomas, Northwestern had Damien Anderson, Iowa had Fred Russell and OSU had Maurice Clarett.

"A lot of teams don't really know what their teams can do (offensively)," OSU cornerback Dustin Fox said. "A lot of your success relies on your quarterback, making plays and being a leader. So I think there's a lot of mystery to what this season brings."