TD-tossing machine
McMINNVILLE, Ore. – Brett Elliott started eight games for Utah before breaking his wrist early last season.
After it became clear to Elliott that he’d never regain his job from Alex Smith, it was time to search for a new team. Little Linfield College, a Division III school nestled in Oregon’s bucolic wine country, swept Elliott away.
“This is just perfect for me here,” he said. “I think I’m a more small-college, small-town type of guy. I love the people here and I love everything about the school. It’s such a fun atmosphere to play in.”
While Smith has gone on to become a Heisman Trophy finalist, Elliott has had quite a year, too.
He is poised to break the 20-year-old all-divisions record for single-season touchdown passes today when the Wildcats (11-0) of the Northwest Conference host Rowan in a Division III semifinal.
Smith has 56 TDs, matching the mark set by Willie Totten of Mississippi Valley State in 1984.
“It’s pretty cool,” Elliott said. “Mostly, it’s just a testament to this team. In all honesty, it’s more of a team record than it is individual. Probably a quarter to half the time it’s been the receivers who’ve taken a 5-yard pass and run it into the end zone. The record goes to them.”
While Totten’s primary target was Jerry Rice, Elliott has a choice of big receivers in Casey Allen, a 6-foot-3 junior who has 82 catches for 1,335 yards and 23 touchdowns, and George Carter, a 6-4 senior who has 47 receptions for 975 yards and 11 scores.
Elliott has completed 253 of 378 passes for 4,059 yards this season. He has been intercepted seven times.
Wildcats quarterbacks coach Jim Nagel likens Elliott to a young Steve DeBerg. Nagel was an assistant at San Jose State in the 1970s when DeBerg played there.
“You’ve got to have tremendous courage to stand back there and take hits and not get flustered or rattled,” Nagel said. “And I think he’s one of the best, if not the best, I’ve seen at that.”
For the moment, Elliott is more concerned with Rowan than the record. The New Jersey Athletic Conference champions are 10-2 this season.
Located in Glassboro, N.J., Rowan has made five appearances in the division’s championship game, but has yet to win the title.
The winner advances to the title game, against the winner of today’s other semifinal between Mount Union and Mary Hardin-Baylor. The Amos Alonzo Stagg Bowl is Dec. 18 in Salem, Va.
The Wildcats prepared in the rain this week at Linfield’s Maxwell Field. Founded in 1858, Linfield has about 2,100 students.
Elliott, a local kid from Lake Oswego, Ore., is one of several quarterbacks this season who is finding success at smaller schools after transferring from big-name programs.
Sam Houston State’s Dustin Long transferred from Texas A&M, while Montana’s Craig Ochs left Colorado.
The two will meet today when Montana (11-2) plays Sam Houston (11-2) in a Division I-AA semifinal game at Washington-Grizzly Stadium in Missoula.
Ochs has passed for 3,232 yards and 27 TDs this season, while Long, a Walter Payton Award finalist, has passed for 4,213 yards and 39 TDs.
At Utah, Smith has led his team to its own 11-0 record this season. The Utes will play Pittsburgh in the Fiesta Bowl on New Year’s Day.
Elliott will be pulling for Utah, as well as his best friend, Utes linebacker Tommy Hackenbruck. It was Hackenbruck’s father who first suggested Linfield after Elliott was injured in the 2003 season.
“Thanksgiving break I came down to check out the school and really just fell in love with it,” Elliott said. “I just came down here, I don’t think any students were on campus, but it was just the small-college atmosphere I really liked.”
Elliott completed 20 of 34 passes for 402 yards, seven TDs and no interceptions during last weekend’s 56-27 quarterfinal win over Occidental (Calif.)
During the playoffs, Elliott has completed 44 of 71 passes for 858 yards, 12 TDs and no interceptions.