Lutz Tolerates Backup Role

When Ken Lutz talks about his status at San Jose State, he sounds more like an employee of the university’s sports information department than the Spartans’ No. 2 quarterback.

“Right now, I’m a backup to Mike Perez,” he says, adding with hardly a pause, “Heisman Trophy candidate.”

Perez passed for 3,225 yards and 17 touchdowns despite missing two games as a junior last season and helped lead San Jose State to the Pacific Coast Athletic Assn. title. He may be a longshot Heisman candidate, but Perez certainly will be the starter.

Lutz red-shirted last season and is scheduled to watch from the sidelines again. Despite not playing after setting school passing records at Royal High and Moorpark College, Lutz remains optimistic about his chances this season.

“I’ll get into the game somehow,” he said. “I’ll hold the ball on PATs. It’s not much, but maybe a fumble will roll into the end zone and I’ll fall on it for a touchdown.”

There was a time when luck did not play a part in Lutz’s getting into the end zone. He passed for a Ventura County record 4,698 yards in three seasons at Royal. At Moorpark, he threw for 2,897 yards and 33 touchdowns in two years and earned honorable mention on a 1985 junior college All-American team.

This might be his last season holding a clipboard; Lutz is projected to start next year.

“Kenny could go in and win for us right away,” San Jose State Coach Claude Gilbert said. “I think we would classify him as our starter next year. It would take a pretty darn good player to beat him out.”

Royal High Coach Tom West, an assistant during Lutz’s three years at Royal, was impressed with the quarterback’s talent and demeanor.

“Lutz always had that aura about him,” he said. “That presence where, hey, things were at their darkest and he had a way of convincing everybody that he was going to pull them out, and normally he did. Especially as he matured.”

Shaun Christensen succeeded Lutz at Royal and also played three seasons. Christensen fell just 128 yards shy of Lutz’s county career passing mark.

Christensen was also a punter and kicker for the Highlanders in 1986, connecting on 4 of 5 field-goal attempts and all 11 extra points. Apparently, those numbers convinced recruiters at Brigham Young, where Christensen is a walk-on kicker.

“So far, he’s done quite well,” said Chris Pella, BYU’s recruiting coordinator and kicking coach. “Shaun’s shown a really good leg and been very consistent.”

Asked whether, in time, Christensen could earn a scholarship, Pella said, “We want to keep him in the program, there’s no doubt about that.”