| Let’s play "scout." We all do. We attend a college
football game, and if there is a guy in it with some ability, we zone in on him, not for
what he is doing but for what we in our infinite wisdom project he could do in the
greatest of all leagues. Right here, I should note that college football is not my
thing. I prefer the game as it is played for money. I have showed up at only two college
games this season, one by executive fiat — I was assigned to it — and one by my
own choosing. I wanted to peek at Tim Rattay.
Rattay. Sounds like rat-a-tat-tat, which is the sound he has been creating with his
passing for Louisiana Tech. Think of Chicago garages on Valentine’s Day. He can put
holes in people, this guy can, and he was to be on exhibit in the Los Angeles Memorial
Coliseum against USC. I wanted to see him, curious person that I am.
La. Tech in La-La Land. A pretty enough scenario. As it turned out, the Louisianans,
their eight straight victories notwithstanding, didn’t have much business being in
southern California, as USC punished them handily, 45-19.
As for Rattay, if you’re caught up in statistics, you would have to love this guy.
What figures! Sometimes, however, a man’s statistics can be more striking than the
man himself, which I would say is the case with Rattay. He isn’t all that big
(6-foot-1, 210 pounds), and he doesn’t possess the velocity of, say, a Koufax, but he
does throw straight. Mostly, he throws a lot.
Tech operates almost solely from a five-WR set and without huddling. It puts Rattay
five yards deep. He takes direct snaps and he throws, generally on rhythm. He can go deep,
he can run a little and he clearly has an understanding of his system. Against the
Trojans, he seldom threw passes that were not contested, and he started poorly. At a time
when USC had a 21-0 lead, Rattay had completed only one pass.
About this time, I called a scout of my acquaintance and advised him that Rattay was in
the process of blowing a bundle. On one study, Rattay had been identified as a likely
third-round draft selection. His status appeared to be declining by the minute.
"But how much can you go down in one game?" said the scout. "I think
(his third-round rating) is probably reasonable. The thing that sells him are his
numbers."
Such figures! They boggle the mind. Rattay didn’t expand on them appreciably with
a 35-for-68 passing effort, but he did throw for 405 yards (slightly more than his
391-yard seasonal average coming in) and three touchdowns. All three were to James Jordan,
a sophomore receiver from New Orleans who bears watching. Rattay also threw three
interceptions against USC.
Rattay went 46-of-68 for 590 yards against Nebraska a year ago. Twice, he has aimed
seven touchdowns in a game. He finished with 35 scoring passes this season and with 115
for his three-year stay at Louisiana Tech. Of his 1,552 passes, only 36 have been
intercepted. He is the third-most prolific passer ever in the NCAA, with 12,746 yards.
And I wasn’t all that taken with him. Look for stunning athletic ability and you
don’t see it in Rattay, a junior-college transfer from Scottsdale (Ariz.) Community
College, where he also put up staggering numbers (one season, 3,526 passing yards and 28
touchdowns).
Rattay then chose to pursue a quarterbacking future in Ruston, La. He chose wisely,
opting for a place where his passing would be showcased. Considering the state of
quarterbacking in the NFL — deplorable — he is a certain draft selection. Some
rank him No. 3 at his position for the auction in 2000, behind only Chris Redman of
Louisville and Chad Pennington of Marshall.
Later, I asked Jack Bicknell III, the Bulldogs’ young (36) and personable head
coach, if the Los Angeles crowd had seen vintage Rattay.
"It wasn’t vintage our offense, but I don’t want to blame it on one
person," Bicknell said. "They have great athletes over there; they were able to
match up with our receivers."
Rattay, it should be noted, delivered a 29-28 Tech triumph over Alabama, which might be
his greatest reference. After that match, Crimson Tide head coach Mike DuBose called
Rattay "one of the finest, if not the finest, quarterback in the game today."
Others also have cited him. After the quarterback escorted his side to a 46-35 victory
over Central Florida, Golden Knights head coach Mike Kruczek said of Rattay: "It was
the best performance I’ve seen from a quarterback in my entire life. I’ve been
around the NFL, and I’ve never seen a kid throw the ball with more accuracy in all my
days of coaching or playing."
Said Alabama-Birmingham head coach Watson Brown after a 41-20 Tech success:
"He’s the best quarterback I’ve seen in my career. It’s just
phenomenal where he puts the football. I didn’t think he could do that to us, and he
did. He just flat-out executed. He’s amazing."
"He’s going to go far," predicted USC QB John Fox. "I was not
worried at all about trying to play up to his level, passing-wise. We’re not designed
for that."
Louisiana Tech is. We shall, you may be sure, be seeing Rattay on Sundays. Following
his career is going to be interesting. He has a lot of Len Dawson in him, of Bob Griese.
He does throw straight.
Editor's note: Jerry Magee has covered pro football for the San Diego Union-Tribune
since 1961 and for PFW since its inception in 1967. |
