A touch of experience
Fisher hopes sophomore QB Calzada will grow into starting role with time
COLLEGE STATION — Catching a football requires concentration. Catching a football from Texas A&M quarterback Zach Calzada requires more concentration than usual.
“You’ve just got to hone in your eyes — train your eyes,” A&M running back Isaiah Spiller said of gathering in a pass from the strong-armed sophomore.
For the past six months, Aggies coach Jimbo Fisher has claimed he has two future NFL quarterbacks on his roster in redshirt freshman Haynes King and Calzada. King, who has a bit more polish to his repertoire, edged Calzada for the starting gig in camp but is sidelined for at least the next month after breaking his tibia early in the Aggies’ 10-7 comeback victory over Colorado last weekend in Denver.
Calzada, who after college could earn a long look from the NFL based on arm strength alone, will make his first college start at 11 a.m. Saturday when No. 7 A&M (2-0) hosts New Mexico (2-0) at Kyle Field.
“The hardest thing to do is be backup quarterback,” said Fisher, a former college quarterback. “If you’re a backup safety, backup
cornerback, backup lineman … you usually get to play somewhere. Backup quarterback, you usually don’t. Knowing he’s going in against (the Lobos), he’ll have a great mindset.”
Fisher is banking on it, and the Aggies are fortunate they draw New Mexico in Week 3, as a nearly 30point favorite despite A&M’s abruptly turning to its backup quarterback. The Aggies open SEC play against No. 20 Arkansas Sept. 25 in Arlington’s AT&T Stadium, and between now and then, Calzada’s laundry list will be topped by one prevalent topic: touch.
“Do you remember how Roger Staubach got the nickname ‘Roger the Dodger?’ ” Fisher said, referencing the former Dallas Cowboys great from the 1960s and ’70s. “Because he ran so much early (in his career). He didn’t know what was going on … he couldn’t find his second and third reads. He was athletic, so he started making plays by
running around.
“Sometimes a guy with a great arm will do that — he’ll be late (on his reads), and suddenly he’s trying to make up for it.”
Fisher’s point? Staubach rapidly progressed with playing time, and he expects the same from Calzada, who might own the strongest arm of any quarterback in A&M history. Few old-timer Aggies argue otherwise, and Calzada’s ability to sling the ball — often recklessly early in his tenure — has drawn comparison from Fisher to former NFL standout Brett Favre.
Mississippi State coach Mike Leach, who directed record-setting offenses at Texas Tech in the early 2000s, has argued consistent accuracy can’t be taught once a quarterback reaches a certain level.
“If a guy has got a super strong arm, (college coaches) will say, ‘All he’s got to do is work on his accuracy,’ ” Leach once told reporters. “So he’s (not) accurate in high school, and some college will take him. Then he won’t be accurate there, and someone in the
NFL says, ‘All he has to do is work on his accuracy.’ And they’ll take him.
“He won’t be accurate there, and he’ll be out of the league.”
Calzada competed fewer than half of his passes (47 percent), finishing 18 of 38 for 183 yards against the Buffaloes, repeatedly firing fastballs over and around open receivers. Along the way, however, an optimistic Fisher noted something else: brisk growth and a willingness to add a little touch when necessary as the game wore on.
“That was the first true game time that Zach has had,” Fisher said of Calzada’s nearly four quarters against Colorado. “He got put in the fire pretty good right there out of the blue.”
The Aggies trailed the Buffaloes 7-3 for most of the contest at Empower Field before A&M’s final scoring drive also resulted in its lone touchdown with 2:41 left.
On A&M’s previous possession, Calzada had tried stretching the ball into the end zone to cap a 12-yard scramble only to fumble at the goal line, and Colorado
recovered. The Aggies’ defense clamped down on the Buffaloes’ ensuing drive, and Calzada responded by coolly engineering an 11play, 77-yard drive for the victory.
On A&M’s final pass on offense on the otherwise exasperating day on that side of the ball, Calzada rolled to his left and launched a flawless pass — with perfect touch — that Spiller effortlessly hauled in in the end zone.
“Zach got comfortable toward the end of the game,” said Spiller, who explained that Calzada was freelancing on the play by rolling out after his first two reads were covered. “Zach is going to be really good for us down the line. He’s going to get more comfortable and more practice time, and he’s going to be ready.”
A smiling Spiller added of his game-winning touchdown catch of 18 yards that kept A&M’s national title hopes alive: “I didn’t have to do anything. … I’m grateful for that, and I’m grateful for him.”