Last season, Cade McNown did not even appear on the UCLA football depth chart.
Twelve months later, he holds the future of Bruins football in the palm of his hand. Suddenly, the sophomore has become the second most experience member of an offense filled with question marks. He faces the daunting task of leading an offense depleted by NFL departures and graduations. No longer will he have the luxury of handing the ball to Karim Abdul-Jabbar or being protected by Jonathan Ogden and company. The majority of the pressure, most say, will fall on the left-hander. McNown, however, is hearing none of it.
"I know all of sudden people are putting a lot of weight on my shoulders," McNown said. "I don't put any pressure on myself because of other people. So, I'm not really feeling the outside pressure. I know it's there but I choose not to listen to it."
At first glance, McNown does not appear to be the one for the Bruins to rest their hopes on. There does not seem to be any particular greatness about him. His passes don't have touch like Dan Marino's do. He can't throw for the distance that John Elway can. He doesn't even have the athleticism that Steve Young possesses. In 1995, he completed 122 of 245 passes for 1,698 yards. Respectable numbers, yes, but by no means remarkable. But, numbers are not what Cade McNown is all about. He relies on the desire to compete, the toughness of a running back and an overall love of the game.
"He's a fierce competitor, a fierce competitor," former head coach Terry Donahue said. "I really like the way he competes." Looking more like a linebacker than a quarterback, McNown is not afraid to get hit, or even give hits.
"If they wanted me to change positions, I probably would," he said. "It wouldn't bother me because, seriously, I love football. If I was fast enough or quick enough I would play receiver, or I would play running back, or I would play defense - it's fun." It's not just talk either, since McNown is the club's leading returning rusher from a year ago, having gained 311 yards on the ground. Last season, he clinched the game against USC with a 21-yard scamper on third-and-13, and in this year's opener against Tennessee, McNown on numerous occasions turned potential sacks into first downs.
"During the game, he ad-libs," Donahue said. "He has a good ability to take something that's a disaster and turn it into something positive."
"It's obvious that he loves the game," offensive coordinator Al Borges said. "All he really wants to do is be around it all the time. It's probably overkill, which for a coach is kind of nice. He has a great thirst for knowledge." As soon a McNown committed to UCLA, he called then-offensive coordinator Bob Toledo and requested a playbook in order to study it during the offseason. Those were the intangibles that enable McNown to become a leader on the club, despite his youth.
"I think he's won a vote of confidence with the rest of the players," Borges said. "I think because of it, it reflects his attitude with the rest of the team. There's a lot to be said for leading the team by example, not necessarily cheerleading. I think he's done that."
"All my life I've done things like being a team captain or a leader of a football team would do," McNown said. "Being a young QB can be a really tough thing, because 75-80 percent of the team was here before me. Whether or not people are going to follow that, that's up to them." For the most part, the players have followed his lead.
"When we're out on the field nobody has a year, nothing like that," senior flanker Derek Ayers said. "In order for everything to work, everybody has to do their role, and his role is to tell us the plays and we're supposed to execute them. Nobody looked at him as a freshman."
McNown became a leader much earlier than planned. Last season, having practiced with the team for only three weeks, he entered the game at Brigham Young in the first half due to an injury to starter Ryan Fien. He proceeded to lead the Bruins to a 23-9 victory. The next week against Oregon, he became the first true freshman in UCLA history to start the team's conference opener. Two weeks later, he became the Bruins' permanent starter.
The team very easily could have been separated along the lines of rookie versus third-year veteran (Fien eventually transferred to Idaho). But McNown remained strong.
"He handled the situation better than any freshman you could imagine," Ayers said. "Most freshmen would panic and would be scared, but he was pretty confident and always trying to make something happen. He was a good leader." As for McNown, he couldn't concern himself over anything other than the game itself.
"I don't know (the players') reactions because I wasn't really worried about it," he said. "I was just so concerned with knowing the plays and knowing the basics that I didn't really have the time or energy to worry about what people thought about it." The coaching staff and McNown himself believe that the experience of his freshman year will improve his game immensely.
Traditionally, quarterbacks make their greatest improvement between their freshman and sophomore seasons. One of McNown's biggest problems from a year ago was his inconsistency. Against Fresno State, he completed 18 of 22 passes for a season-high 306 yards. The very next week, he was three-for-18, with 80 yards passing against Arizona.
"I expect to show a lot of improvement over last season," McNown said. "I hope to see a lot more consistency, obviously higher statistics." For McNown to achieve those goals, the coaches believe he must be more patient in the pocket and not look to run so much.
"Overall, understanding the passing game, he's getting a little bit better at it every day," Borges said. "Once he's been in this passing game for a while, I think his completion percentage and touchdowns are going to go up." He has already shown signs of immense improvement over a year ago. Against Tennessee, he was 16-for-24, for 230 yards. Only once did he surpass that completion total last season, and only twice did he throw for more yards. "I think he had a pretty good game," Borges said. "He was still a bit slow on a couple throws, but for the most part he did a great job underneath a lot of pressure at times.
"I don't just expect him to improve; I am going to insist on it. If he can get through those bad times, which every QB has to deal with, I think he's going to make his mark on this school. I think right now he's on track to be a darn good, maybe someday great, quarterback."
And why not? After all, he's still a teenager.
UCLA SPORTS INFORMATION
Sophomore quarterback Cade McNown will lead UCLA into Ann Arbor on Saturday.