THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, December 29, 1995 TAG: 9512290677
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY ED MILLER, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: GREENVILLE, N.C. LENGTH: Medium: 95 lines
Because he was an option quarterback, Marcus Crandell had few quarterbacking options when he came out of high school more than three years ago.
In fact, he had one. Crandell could play quarterback at nearby East Carolina University, or he could forget about playing quarterback.
ECU was the only Division I-A school to give Crandell a chance to play quarterback, and, truth be told, even the Pirates weren't sold on the kid from tiny Robersonville, N.C.
``I really don't think ECU thought he was going to be a quarterback either,'' said Doc Avery, Crandell's coach at Roanoke High School. ``They offered him because he was close and he was a great athlete.''
Whatever their motivation, the Pirates coaches look like geniuses now. With a year left to play, Crandell has broken nearly every ECU passing record, most of which were held by Jeff Blake, now the starting quarterback for the Cincinnati Bengals.
Heading into the Liberty Bowl against Stanford, Crandell has thrown for 2,751 yards and 18 touchdowns this season. He's also run for 200 yards and six touchdowns.
Crandell began the year rated the nation's 12th-best quarterback by The Sporting News. ECU coach Steve Logan rates him 11 spots higher.
``I wouldn't trade my quarterback for anybody in the country,'' Logan said. ``I mean that.''
So how did everyone else miss the boat on Crandell?
``I don't know,'' he says. ``I guess they looked at my high school and saw we ran the option. We didn't pass too often.''
Crandell threw for 1,480 yards as a high school senior but was considered more of an athlete than a quarterback. As a junior, he led Roanoke to the state title game, where the Redskins lost to Swain County, quarterbacked by Heath Shuler.
Avery remembers Crandell watching Shuler throw and becoming discouraged about his prospects of playing quarterback in college.
``I told him, `Hey, that's a Heisman trophy arm,' '' Avery said of Shuler.
Crandell didn't possess that type of arm. But Avery knew Crandell was something special after the quarterback broke his shoulder as a sophomore, three weeks after earning the starting job.
``I knew he was a special kid because he came out to practice every day that he was hurt,'' Avery said. ``We put him in as soon as he got back. We had installed a whole new offense. He came back on Monday, and by Friday, he knew the whole offense.
``I wasn't sure if he could play quarterback in college, but I knew he had a strong arm and was very knowledgeable of the game. He had a dream to be a quarterback and I told him to follow his dream.''
Crandell went on to be named all-state, but the major colleges wanted him to be a defensive back. North Carolina, the team for which Crandell had dreamed of playing, was no exception.
``It was very hard turning them down,'' he said. ``But I wanted to do what was best for myself.''
ECU promised Crandell a chance to show what he could do at quarterback. If that didn't work out, he would play in the secondary.
Crandell came to ECU in 1992 and ran the scout team during practice. It soon became clear he would not be playing defensive back.
``He was wearing out their defense,'' Avery said.
Crandell was named outstanding scout team player. He won the starting quarterback's job the next year, as a redshirt freshman, and made his debut on national television against Syracuse.
Crandell played six quarters all year, however, breaking his leg against Central Florida in week two. But he returned last year to throw for 2,687 yards and 21 TDs. He's improved his numbers in '95.
``I think I've added something to the offense this year,'' he said. ``I'm making better decisions.''
Crandell has drawn praise from Logan for his stone-cold knowledge of ECU's complicated, ``West Coast-style'' offense. ECU formations feature three, four, even five wide receivers. Crandell said that learning Logan's offense was harder than any class he's taken at ECU.
It has also turned out to be the perfect offense for Crandell.
``It gives you the ability to do a lot of things,'' he said.
At 6-feet, 204 pounds, Crandell can do a lot of things. With his quick feet, he's a threat to scramble. His arm strength is good, but his accuracy is better.
``He's made our job real easy,'' wide receiver Larry Shannon said. ``You just turn around and the ball's going to be there.''
Comparisons with Blake, who led ECU to a Peach Bowl win four years ago, are inevitable. Blake, also just six feet tall, was considered too short to play quarterback in the NFL, but has starred with Cincinnati. Crandell doesn't mind the comparisons, considering few people thought he could play quarterback at the I-A level.
``It's great to hear,'' Crandell said. ``He had a lot of records here, and now I've broken most of them. That's a good feeling.'' ILLUSTRATION: Color photo, The Virginian-Pilot file
Marcus Campbell owns nearly every East Carolina passing record.
by CNB