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 Cooper mum on OSU's QB situation
Posted: Thursday April 22, 1999 09:22 PM
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) -- Buckeye coach John Cooper isn't about to decide just yet who will start at quarterback for Ohio State in its opener against Miami. That Kickoff Classic matchup isn't until Aug. 29. The contenders are sophomores Austin Moherman and Steve Bellisari. Cooper's lips are sealed about who is No. 1 and who is No. 2. "I wouldn't single one of them out over the other right now," Cooper said. "I wouldn't because I don't have to." Cooper likes the competition at the position. All the intrigue of a quarterback battle doesn't bother him, either. In one corner, it's Moherman, a 6-foot-5, 215-pound pocket passer from Mission Viejo, Calif. In case you haven't seen him -- and he threw only one pass a year ago in the four minutes he played -- his style most closely approximates that of Tom Tupa, a Buckeye quarterback in the mid-1980s. "He throws the ball really well," Bellisari said of Moherman. "I feel pretty comfortable in the pocket," Moherman said. "I feel pretty experienced, being here for the past couple of years with the offense." In the other corner is Bellisari. The brother of former OSU linebacker Greg Bellisari is a 6-3, 210-pounder who's as prone to run the ball as he is to throw it. The native Floridian played in every game last year as a special-teams whiz and backup strong safety. He's not unlike former Buckeye Kirk Herbstreit, who twice flirted with shifting to defensive back before starting at quarterback as a senior. "He's a great athlete," Moherman said of Bellisari. "He can roll out and maybe scramble a little bit better." "I have a tendency to run in certain situations when the protection collapses," Bellisari said. "But there's really not too much of a difference between us." Cooper says both have made progress this spring heading into the Buckeyes' annual spring scrimmage Saturday, a closed-to-the-public affair at the team's practice facility because of the renovations at Ohio Stadium. Cooper hints that he may bring both players around slowly. With both David Boston and Dee Miller gone as the wide-out targets, and with strengths elsewhere on offense, the Buckeyes can afford some on-the-job training for Moherman and Bellisari. "With our offensive line and running back and fullback situation, I could see us relying a little bit more on our running game and not relying so much on our quarterbacks -- at least initially," Cooper said. In his 12 years at Ohio State, Cooper hasn't had to break in many quarterbacks. When he first took over in 1988, he inherited a redshirt sophomore named Greg Frey who ended up starting for three years. Through Kent Graham, Herbstreit, Bob Hoying, Bret Powers, Stanley Jackson and Joe Germaine, whenever a quarterback graduated Cooper always seemed to have somebody waiting in the wings. But the learning curve is different this time around. The ultimate decision on who will start will come along later -- perhaps not for 127 days. That's when the 1999 Buckeyes line up for the first time in a real game. "I think both have made progress. Obviously, with two young quarterbacks like that, you'd like to have more than the 15 days in the spring but you can't do that," Cooper said. "They're both bright players, both intelligent players and I think both are a lot better players now than when we started spring practice."
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