COLLEGE FOOTBALL ’88 : COACHES, PLAYERS, TEAMS AND TRENDS TO WATCH THIS SEASON : NAMES OF THE GAME : Peete, Aikman Are the Best, but Don’t Forget All the Rest

Troy Aikman was somewhat taken aback by the seemingly unending praise heaped upon him this summer by National Football League scouts.

“I feel like I’m being recruited,” the UCLA quarterback said.

It’s not much different for Rodney Peete, the USC quarterback who is pictured with Aikman on the covers of five magazines.

If they’re not the most valuable players in college football--and many would argue that they are that--Aikman and Peete are certainly the most celebrated.

And they no doubt have made Al Davis envious of both Terry Donahue and Larry Smith.

With his size, athletic ability, powerful arm and experience in a pro-style offense, the 6-foot 3 1/2-inch, 217-pound Aikman is considered such a sure-fire NFL prospect that he is compared not with his contemporaries, but with the famous quarterback class of 1983.

Draft expert Mel Kiper Jr. calls Aikman one of the two best quarterback prospects--along with Vinny Testaverde--of the last three or four years.

“His potential puts him in a class with Jim Kelly, Dan Marino and Tony Eason, all of whom were taken in the first round in 1983,” Kiper told Prolog magazine. “And, although he isn’t rated like John Elway--probably the top prospect ever--Aikman definitely rates ahead of Ken O’Brien and Todd Blackledge, the other quarterbacks drafted in the first round in ’83.”

Said Gil Brandt, vice president in charge of player development for the Dallas Cowboys: “Knowing what we know now, you would have Elway, Marino and Aikman as the first three players drafted, if all were available today.”

Although he is rated ahead of Aikman in terms of athletic ability, the 6-2, 195-pound Peete isn’t thought to be in Aikman’s class as a pro prospect.

But that doesn’t mean he isn’t highly regarded by pro scouts.

And, of course, it doesn’t make him any less valuable to USC.

“I look at Aikman and say that he’ll be a better pro football player than Peete, but if you ask me who I’d rather have on my college football team, I’d have a hard time deciding,” Brandt said.

“What (Peete) does for Southern Cal, and what he has done, it’s unbelievable. . . . He is a great leader, and he’s very well-liked and respected by his teammates.

“I think last year tells you a lot about him because I don’t think they had all that good a team and he took them to the Rose Bowl. And taking somebody to the Rose Bowl in the best conference in America is pretty darn good.”

Last season, his first at UCLA after transferring from Oklahoma, Aikman ranked No. 2 nationally in passing efficiency, completing 65% of his passes for 2,527 yards and 17 touchdowns.

Peete, a three-year starter who already is USC’s all-time passing leader, ranked No. 4 in passing efficiency last season, when he established school records of 2,709 yards and 21 touchdowns while completing 59% of his passes.

And, besides throwing for a career-high 304 yards and 2 fourth-quarter touchdowns in USC’s 17-13 comeback victory over UCLA, he made the play of the game, chasing down Eric Turner as time ran out in the first half after Turner intercepted Peete’s pass and appeared headed for a touchdown.

In a vote of Pacific 10 coaches, who were polled before the USC-UCLA game, Aikman was named as the conference’s offensive player of the year. Peete was the choice in a poll of reporters, who voted after the USC-UCLA game.

Already, there is talk that Aikman and Peete are headed this season for a showdown reminiscent of 1967, when Heisman Trophy aspirants Gary Beban of UCLA and O.J. Simpson of USC hooked up in a memorable 21-20 USC victory.

“There’s really nobody else in their category,” said Dick Steinberg, director of player development for the New England Patriots.

Steinberg was speaking strictly of quarterbacks who are expected to be available in the NFL draft next spring.

Others, of course, will also shape the 1988 college football season.

Among those expected to have the biggest impact are:

--Hart Lee Dykes of Oklahoma State, who broke his own Big Eight records last season when he caught 64 passes for 1,050 yards.

--Todd Ellis of South Carolina, a junior quarterback who is on track to replace former San Diego State quarterback Todd Santos as the National Collegiate Athletic Assn.’s career passing leader. Ellis is already the Gamecocks’ all-time leader with 5,922 yards and 30 touchdowns, including his NCAA freshman records of 3,020 yards and 20 touchdowns.

--John Ford of Virginia, a three-year starter at wide receiver who has averaged almost 20 yards a reception and, along with Dykes, is expected to be a first-round draft pick next spring.

--Jeff Francis of Tennessee, who is regarded by some scouts as the No. 2 senior quarterback prospect behind Aikman.

--Chuck Hartlieb of Iowa, who, despite a style that has been described as mechanical, was No. 3 in the nation in passing efficiency last season, when he had five 300-yard games and completed 65% of his passes for 2,855 yards and 19 touchdowns.

--Bill Hawkins of Miami (Fla.), a 6-6, 260-pound graduate student--he earned a degree in finance last spring--who is regarded by most professional scouts as the best defensive end in the country.

--Tom Hodson of Louisiana State, an efficient junior quarterback who in two seasons has passed for 4,386 yards and 34 touchdowns, and only 17 interceptions. According to Kiper, Hodson and South Carolina’s Ellis are “only a notch below Aikman” and, should they choose to pass up their final seasons of eligibility, could be first-round draft picks next spring.

--Jamelle Holieway of Oklahoma, a wishbone quarterback who is described by Coach Barry Switzer as “the best ever to play the position.” Holieway, whose record as a starter is 27-1, underwent reconstructive surgery on his left knee last fall and missed the last three games of the season, is on pace to break the NCAA career rushing record for a quarterback.

--Bobby Humphrey of Alabama, who used to sell soft drinks at Legion Field in Birmingham, Ala., but now helps sell tickets as the Crimson Tide’s all-time leading rusher. Described by Kiper as a “franchise back,” Humphrey had bone-graft surgery in his left foot last April and had his jaw broken last month when he was jumped outside a Tuscaloosa nightclub, but is expected to be ready for Alabama’s season opener Sept. 10 against Temple.

--Eric Jones of Vanderbilt, an option quarterback who led the Southeastern Conference in total offense last season with 2,619 yards, including 665 on the ground, and ran and passed for 22 touchdowns.

--Terrence Jones of Tulane, a quarterback who was responsible last season for a nation-leading 28 touchdowns, including 20 by passing, and “runs as much--and as well--as some running backs,” according to Steinberg. Jones, in fact, spent part of his freshman season at tailback.

--Tony Mandarich of Michigan State, a 6-6, 303-pound tackle who is considered the best offensive lineman and one of the five best players, regardless of position, in college football.

--Mark Messner of Michigan, a 6-4, 244-pound defensive tackle who has 28 career sacks and whose father, Max, was a linebacker for the Detroit Lions and the Pittsburgh Steelers.

--Eric Metcalf of Texas, a running back and son of former St. Louis Cardinal running back Terry Metcalf. A two-time NCAA long jump champion, Metcalf ranked third in the nation last season in all-purpose yardage, averaging 175 yards a game, and caught 33 passes.

--Louis Oliver of Florida, a free safety--and former walk-on--who Kiper believes is in a class with former Miami All-American Bennie Blades.

--Deion Sanders of Florida State, who supplanted teammate Sammie Smith as the Metro Conference 100-meter champion last spring, qualified for the Olympic trials, reached the triple-A level this summer as an outfielder in the New York Yankees’ farm system, and is considered the premier cornerback in college football and a certain first-round draft pick.

--Emmitt Smith of Florida, who last season ran for 1,341 yards, including 224 against Alabama in his first start, and joined Herschel Walker and Tony Dorsett as the only players in NCAA history to rush for more than 1,300 yards in their freshmen seasons.

--Sammie Smith of Florida State, described by Coach Bobby Bowden as “the most neglected running back in America” during a sophomore season in which he averaged a nation-leading 7.2 yards a carry, but was often overshadowed by Emmitt Smith.

--Steve Taylor of Nebraska, a two-year starter at quarterback who has run for 1,333 yards and showed UCLA last season that he could pass, too, throwing for five touchdowns against the Bruins.

--Blair Thomas of Penn State, who was described by Coach Joe Paterno as the leading candidate for the 1988 Heisman Trophy after a season in which he rushed for 1,414 yards and also led the Nittany Lions with 23 receptions and 80 points. Not long after Paterno made that declaration, Thomas injured his right knee, missed the Citrus Bowl and underwent reconstructive surgery. His status for this season is still in doubt.

--Broderick Thomas of Nebraska, regarded by pro scouts as the best outside linebacker in college football.

--Darrell Thompson of Minnesota, a junior tailback who is the only player in Big Ten history to rush for more than 1,000 yards in each of his first two seasons.

--Lawyer Tillman of Auburn, a wide receiver whose size, 6-4 and 224 pounds, and speed are expected to make him a first-round draft choice.

--Jeff Wiley of Holy Cross, who led all Division I quarterbacks last season in total offense at 338 yards a game, and touchdown passes, 34, and, along with two-way standout Gordie Lockbaum, led the unbeaten Crusaders last season.