Forget Flutie--Long and Bosco Have His Vote

Times football reporters, except for Bob Oates, often seem unable to put performance in a proper perspective, to really summarize what they’ve seen. Two remarkable performances by college quarterbacks have taken place recently, and in neither case were they fully analyzed, perhaps even fully appreciated.

Robbie Bosco of BYU played virtually a full game on a cruelly injured leg that destroyed his mobility, yet he passed at will against Michigan. Had he been healthy, BYU might have won by 30, not seven.

But this performance was far overshadowed by that of Chuck Long of Iowa against Texas in the Freedom Bowl. The game was played from the start in a driving rain on a swamp. (A muddy infield had derailed Eric Dickerson on a clear day earlier, and everybody knows you can’t pass a sopping football effectively). But Long probably achieved the greatest performance by a passer in the history of football, pro or college. Against Texas, he passed for 461 yards and, in only 10 minutes, threw that impossible football for four touchdowns to four different, lumbering receivers. He threw no interceptions in 39 attempts, hitting 11 straight at one point.

A week ago, I thought Doug Flutie was it. Now I’d rank him third behind Long and Bosco.

TED BENTLEY

Los Angeles