A New Look : CSUN’s Huffman Hopes First Game Goes Smoother Than His Last Haircut

For a guy who, by all accounts, is adept at calling an audible in the face of defensive maneuvering on the football field, Rob Huffman sure has had problems calling the right play in the barber shop.

The trouble started about a month ago when Huffman had his hair mowed into a $3.75 flattop, a yearly tradition he has followed since his Pop Warner days. Huffman, who is the Cal State Northridge quarterback, decided at the same time to have his naturally light-brown locks bleached white.

The resultant sight was as unnerving to Huffman as a quarterback spying a blitzing Lawrence Taylor with a clear lane to the backfield. He decided to pass--from the Madonna look to that of Jim McMahon--and dyed his spiked hair brown.

Then his problems really began.

His hair, “kind of came back,” but it also “kind of turned orange,” he said. So Huffman bootlegged to the chop shop for another flattop and had the sides of his scalp sheared.

“It’s just the tips that still have that little fire color,” Huffman said. “I’ve got to get it cut again.”

On the field, where his head is encased in a red CSUN helmet, Huffman has had little trouble getting things right the first time.

The 6-3, 215-pound Huffman, a JC All-American last season at Glendale College, has been living up to his billing from the day last spring when he arrived on the Northridge campus.

“He’s nothing short of what we expected,” CSUN Coach Bob Burt said. “He’s got a good arm, good vision and a lot of the intangible qualities that make a good leader.”

When Huffman chose CSUN over several Division I schools such as Louisville and New Mexico, it was considered a coup for the Matadors. Huffman, however, said the decision wasn’t difficult.

He grew up in Southern California and loves the life style that the climate affords. So when Huffman began narrowing his college choices, he decided to pursue an opportunity that offered him an immediate chance to play--on and off the field.

After he took a recruiting trip to Louisville, saw the sights, met some of the townsfolk and discovered that there were no beaches in Kentucky, Huffman signed with CSUN.

“Everything is working out great so far,” said Huffman, who is a physical education major. “You know, when I first thought about Northridge, I thought, ‘Shoot, even Glendale could beat them.’ But then I came here and saw some of the players and I could tell right away that the quality, especially the juniors and seniors with the extra two years of experience, was better.”

Huffman gets his first real test here tonight against a Boise State team that rolled over Delaware State, 34-13, last week. The Broncos, a Division I-AA team, are expected to try to stifle Huffman and the Matadors with a blitzing defense.

“We all believe that we can beat them,” Huffman said. “The starting level at Northridge is just as good as it is at Boise State. They just have more depth.

“All we have to do is play mistake-free football and do what we’ve been doing in practice.”

Huffman, a drop-back passer, said he has improved his rollout technique with the help of the CSUN coaching staff. A preseason battle with freshman redshirt Sherdrick Bonner for the starting job was a fight in name only. It was a way for Burt to keep Huffman motivated.

Bonner (6-3, 170) will play this season and may turn out to be the best ever at the position for CSUN, Burt said. But the next two years likely will be the Huffman era. Coaches don’t recruit JC All-Americans to come in and sit on the bench. Bonner will have to wait his turn, just as Huffman did at Glendale.

An average high school quarterback from a below-average team, Huffman didn’t have any colleges clamoring for his services after graduation from Verdugo Hills High. Glendale Coach Jim Sartoris liked his size and his arm strength but decided to redshirt Huffman so he could learn the system and mature.

“When he first came in he was a big, raw, green kid who had a pretty strong arm but terrible techniques,” Sartoris said. “He was a good thrower but not a real good passer.

“Coming out to practice every day as a redshirt was tough on him, but I think he got a lot of good advice from his high school coach about being patient.”

Huffman developed quickly once he got a chance to play for the Vaqueros. In 1985, he passed for 1,682 yards and 13 touchdowns and led the team to a 10-1 record and the Western State Conference championship.

Last season, he passed for 1,595 yards and 21 touchdowns and led Glendale to a duplicate 10-1 record and another conference title.

“The main thing I bring to the Northridge program is experience,” Huffman said. “I’ve proven I can play under pressure with the big teams on the JC level. Now we’ll see how I do at this level.”

Huffman has set what he calls “obtainable” goals for this season. He wants to pass for about 1,500 yards with a 60% completion rate and throw twice as many touchdowns as interceptions.

“If I can perform at that level and people on our team can play to their potential, everything else will come in time,” Huffman said.

Including, he hopes, a good haircut.