He Finally Wins the Waiting Game : College football: After being an understudy for three years, former Troy starter Mike Pawlawski steps in at quarterback for Cal, and shows he belongs.

On second and goal from the nine-yard line, Mike Pawlawski takes the snap. The announcer’s voice builds with excitement.

“Pawlawski drops back to pass. Looking for a receiver . . .”

California’s pass protection breaks down. Pawlawski scrambles to his right, with two linemen in pursuit and a national television audience watching.

“. . . Pawlawski now free-lancing. Looking . . . looking . . .”

Pawlawski pulls up just short of the line of scrimmage. The Wisconsin secondary overruns the play, leaving wide receiver Mike Caldwell open in the end zone.

“. . . he throws . . . TOUCHDOWN . . . Outstanding.”

Pawlawski, a graduate of Troy High School, has waited three years for such praise.

During that time, he watched Troy Taylor set numerous Cal passing records. He endured illness and injury while learning how much he didn’t know about playing quarterback. He even fought off the challenge of a blue-chip recruit.

And through it all, he has never doubted himself. Hey, why should he? He’s Mike Pawlawski.

“I figured the job was mine all along,” said Pawlawski, a redshirt junior. “I had been the understudy for three years and I was ready to step in. To tell you the truth, I don’t think anyone on the team was surprised when they named me the starter.”

Call him cocky or call him confident, it’s pure Pawlawski. Failure never enters the guy’s mind, even in defeat.

After California lost to defending national champion Miami last week, Pawlawski assessed the brash Hurricanes by saying: “They’re awful dancers (after touchdowns). They talk a lot tougher than they are.”

Miami had won, 52-24.

But Pawlawski has ability to back up such statements. After all, he had picked apart the Hurricane secondary--known for its swagger as well as its ability--for 245 yards.

His 13-yard touchdown pass to Brian Treggs had even given the Bears a 21-14 lead in the second quarter. The score was still close, 31-24, in the fourth quarter before turnovers set up two Miami touchdowns.

“We’ve played two games on national television, one against the defending national champion,” California Coach Bruce Snyder said. “Mike has limited experience at best, but never once have I sensed any anxiety from him. And he hasn’t been wired tight the other way, with a let’s-go-play-ball attitude. He just does his job.”

Even in losing, Pawlawski found something positive; his performance wiped out a bad memory from the Bears’ 31-3 loss to Miami in 1989.

“I only threw four passes in that game and two got picked off,” Pawlawski said. “All last week, the papers were saying that I wasn’t a Ty Detmer (BYU quarterback) and that Miami was going to unload on us. Sure, I’m not as good as Detmer, but no one has seen me enough to know how good I can be.”

But people are learning.

After throwing only 30 passes during the previous two seasons, Pawlawski has stepped into the starting spot and proved he belongs there. Through two games, he has completed 41 of 64 passes for 377 yards with three touchdowns and no interceptions.

Not bad for a guy who had played only one season at quarterback before coming to California.

Pawlawski was a three-year starter for Troy, playing various positions. He was a wide receiver, defensive back and even spent one season as the team’s kicker.

As a senior, he was asked to play quarterback--a position he had never played before.

“I was the backup quarterback as a junior, but I never took a snap in a game,” Pawlawski said. “Our offense wasn’t that sophisticated. I would look at one receiver and, if he wasn’t open, then I would run.”

Simple, but effective. Pawlawski threw for 1,551 yards and rushed for 472 in leading the Warriors to an 8-3 record.

He also excelled at free safety. Pawlawski intercepted seven passes and developed a reputation as a fierce hitter.

So, when college recruiters came calling, they talked to Pawlawski about playing defensive back. Only Snyder thought differently.

“He was never anything but a quarterback to us,” Snyder said. “We thought he had a strong-enough arm and we liked his competitiveness. The fact he was also a defensive back gave us flexibility. But we wanted him as a quarterback.”

Which was fine with Pawlawski, who signed on the dotted line with the Bears.

Of course, when Snyder said he wanted Pawlawski as a quarterback, he meant in the future--as in down the line.

The Bears already had Taylor, a sophomore with plenty of potential. But Pawlawski has never been one to take a back seat.

“Yeah, I was pretty cocky,” he said. “I had never even heard of Troy Taylor. I thought I was going to walk in and start. It was really kind of stupid on my part.”

Pawlawski soon learned about Taylor, who is California’s all-time leading passer.

Taylor, who was selected by the New York Jets in the fourth round of the 1990 NFL draft, threw for 8,126 yards his four years as the Bears’ starter. He is also the school’s all-time leader in completions and touchdown pass.

So Pawlawski spent his first year as a redshirt, watching Taylor closely. He also sought Taylor’s advice and opinions, absorbing all he could.

“I soon learned that I knew nothing about playing quarterback,” Pawlawski said. “I never knew why certain plays worked against certain defenses. I had to learn all about offensive concepts. Troy taught me.”

Pawlawski’s tutelage was interrupted twice, first during spring practice in 1988 when he sprained an ankle during spring practice. The injury lingered through the summer and anti-inflammatory drugs he took to help heal the ankle led to his second problem, a bleeding ulcer.

Moments before the Bears’ 1988 opener against the University of the Pacific, Pawlawski went to the team trainer to complain about stomach pains and was rushed to the hospital, where he spent the next eight days.

“The told me I must have been bleeding for three or four days because I had lost a lot of blood,” Pawlawski said. “They had to cauterize it by sticking a tube down my mouth. That wasn’t pleasant.”

Pawlawski missed three weeks and played in only two games.

As a sophomore, he again played in only two games. By then, competition had arrived in the form of Perry Klein, who had thrown for 5,536 yards and 54 touchdowns in high school.

Unlike Klein, Pawlawski has never been considered a natural quarterback. His throws, although accurate, often wobble and he has been known to scramble out of the pocket too quickly.

Still, he held off the Klein’s challenge in spring practice and was named the Bears’ starter two weeks before the season.

“Mike doesn’t look stylish and he’s not really mechanically sound,” Snyder said. “But he is productive. We’re interested in productivity, not style.”

In the season opener against Wisconsin, Pawlawski fumbled on the Bears’ second possession. It was his only mistake of the game.

From then on, he was productive.

Pawlawski completed six of his first seven passes and rallied the Bears from a 6-0 deficit. Earlier in the second quarter, he threw a three-yard pass to Treggs, who cut up the middle for a 31-yard touchdown.

“That’s a great way to pick up passing yards,” Pawlawski said.

In the second quarter, he threw the nine-yard scoring pass to Caldwell.

“I really enjoyed that one,” Pawlawski said. “I like those type of plays where I can make something out of nothing.”

But perhaps no play in the Wisconsin game should Pawlawski’s ability more than a three-yard run by tailback Anthony Wallace.

It was a third-and-two play in the third quarter after the Badgers had cut the Bear lead to 21-12. Pawlawski took the snap and stumbled. However, as he fell, he managed to flip the ball to Wallace, who got the first down.

The Bears later scored, capping a 75-yard drive, to take a 28-12 lead.

“You don’t teach that, it’s instinct,” Snyder said. “That’s one of Mike’s best assests.”

Pawlawski’s stats for the game were not all that impressive--he had 132 yards passing. But the Bears won.

“I got the job done,” Pawlawski said. “I went out and hit my first four passes. I didn’t feel out of place and I wasn’t nervous. I was confident because I felt like I belonged out there.”

And why not? He’s Mike Pawlawski.