He’s Not a Lame Duck Quarterback Anymore : Football: Oregon can’t go to the Rose Bowl, but future is bright as long as Musgrave stays healthy.

Anybody who wondered what Bill Musgrave might accomplish if he stayed in one piece has finally been given a chance to find out.

Oregon’s highly regarded junior quarterback, knocked out of the lineup by injuries three times in his first two seasons, is still standing as the Ducks prepare to play UCLA Saturday at the Rose Bowl on Musgrave’s 22nd birthday.

He’s flourishing, too.

Last Saturday at Provo, Utah, Musgrave passed for a school-record 489 yards against Brigham Young, completing 26 of 44 attempts in a 45-41 loss.

His performance fell short of the Pacific 10 Conference record of 534 yards--established last month by Paul Justin of Arizona State--but only twice previously had a Pac-10 quarterback thrown for more yards in one game.

John Elway never threw for that many yards in a game.

Neither did Troy Aikman.

And neither did Dan Fouts.

The reluctant and soft-spoken Musgrave, however, would acknowledge only that he had “felt pretty comfortable throwing the ball” and that the Ducks, who generated 667 total yards, had enjoyed “a pretty good day.”

What matters most to Musgrave is winning and, although he is only 158 yards short of the school record of 2,503 yards passing, set by Chris Miller in 1986, he considers this season a disappointment.

Musgrave had high hopes, telling reporters before the season that he believed the Ducks could win every game and advance to the Rose Bowl for the first time since Jan. 1, 1958, when they lost to Ohio State in their only postseason appearance in Pasadena, 10-7.

Oregon, though, is only 5-4 and out of the Rose Bowl race.

“I don’t know if the Rose Bowl thing really could have come true, but we’re disappointed that we have four losses,” Musgrave said Wednesday. “We’d like to be ranked in the top 20.”

Oregon was 6-1 and ranked 20th last season before Musgrave, running against Arizona State, was blind-sided by linebacker Rodney Dillard and broke his collarbone. Without their leader, the Ducks lost their last five games.

Two years ago, Musgrave passed for 1,836 yards and 13 touchdowns as a redshirt freshman. Oregon was 4-1, with a 34-27 victory over USC--the Trojans’ only conference loss in three seasons under Coach Larry Smith.

A thigh injury, however, kept Musgrave out of all or part of the next three games--two of which Oregon lost--and the disappointed Ducks wound up 6-5.

Last summer, the 6-foot-3, 196-pound Musgrave lifted weights more frequently and ran less often, adding 15 pounds in hopes of improving his durability.

Still, he admonished reporters at the start of fall camp: “It’s not fair to the rest of the team to say we can’t win without me.”

As if to prove it, he turned conservative and watched in anguish as Stanford overcame a 17-0 deficit in the last 7 minutes 19 seconds to beat the Ducks, 18-17, in Oregon’s third game.

Then, still stung by the improbable defeat, Musgrave fell into a three-game slump in which he threw nine interceptions and lost two fumbles. Worse, the Ducks lost to Washington State and Washington.

In the 20-14 loss to Washington, Oregon had seven turnovers, including four interceptions by Musgrave.

Said Coach Rich Brooks: “We not only shot ourselves in the foot, we amputated it.”

The loss to Stanford haunted Musgrave for weeks, he said.

“I felt like the second half was really mediocre,” he said of his performance against the Cardinal. “I came out just trying to hold onto the ball and preserve a victory instead of going for the jugular and putting the game out of reach.”

In the weeks that followed, Musgrave said, he opened up.

“I think I saw what happened when we lost to Stanford and had no turnovers, and I was willing to take more chances,” he said. “But I saw that that can backfire the same way.

“I just had to sit down and tell myself to quit forcing the ball if nothing’s open--pull it down and run or throw it away and come back the next play.”

In Oregon’s last three games, including victories over Arizona State and Cal State Long Beach, Musgrave has returned to form, passing for 801 yards while throwing only two interceptions.

He leads the conference--and ranks ninth in the nation--in total offense. He has completed 58.7% of his passes for 2,345 yards and 17 touchdowns and, if he avoids injury, will almost certainly surpass Fouts and Miller to become Oregon’s all-time passing leader.

With another season to go, he needs only 1,000 yards to pass Fouts and 1,686 to pass Miller.

In terms of physical talent, though, Musgrave pales in comparison to Miller, who was a first-round NFL draft choice.

An outstanding student and state high school athlete of the year as a senior in Grand Junction, Colo., Musgrave took recruiting trips to Yale, Stanford and Oregon, but only Oregon offered a scholarship.

“Miller was a very gifted athlete with great speed and a stronger arm than Musgrave,” said Brooks, comparing the two. “Musgrave is a very tough-minded quarterback, a very smart quarterback. Doesn’t possess a rifle arm like a Troy Aikman or a Chris Miller, but has great touch on the ball and makes great decisions.”

Musgrave winces at such talk. If he breaks Miller’s records, he said, the numbers won’t tell the truth.

“It wouldn’t mean that much because statistics are just statistics,” said Musgrave, who was a red-shirting freshman when Miller was a senior. “I don’t think they’re that valuable in comparing players.”

“(Miller) was a great athlete. He could do things that just amazed me. He was so dynamic and he always knew what the defense was going to be doing. He was always prepared for every game. He set an example for me.”

An injury-free Musgrave has set an example of his own.