Daffy Plays Paid Off for Ward : College football: Cal State Northridge wide receiver threw seven touchdown passes from unusual formations.

The first time wide receiver Cornell Ward of Cal State Northridge took the ball on a reverse, stopped and threw a touchdown pass, it was a novelty.

As Northridge Coach Bob Burt, who prefers a more physical approach, explained: “When you don’t razzle-dazzle on a steady diet, it has a better chance of working.”

But in the next seven weeks, Ward, a senior, made his coach eat his words. On a steady diet of trick plays, Ward completed six more passes--all for touchdowns--totaling 259 yards.

His seven touchdown passes are the most by a Northridge player since 1989, and his “quarterback” efficiency rating of 648.2 makes the 186.5 of Western Football Conference leader John Charles of Portland State pale by comparison.

Ward threw his only incomplete pass on a fake field goal after lining up as the holder.

Burt designed all kinds of ways to get Ward into the Matadors’ passing game--as the passer. For instance, with Northridge trailing in the season finale against Cal State Sacramento, 35-0, Ward caught a lateral from quarterback Damone Scott, then passed to Adam McKinney for a 49-yard touchdown.

It was his second touchdown pass from the no-huddle, “Daffy Duck” formation in which four linemen and a wide receiver positioned themselves just inside the sideline, isolating the center, the tailback, the split end and the quarterback--in shotgun formation in the middle of the field, with two receivers on the other side.

A week earlier, Ward lined up next to the sideline, stepped behind the linemen, caught a lateral from Scott and threw a 24-yard touchdown pass to McKinney.

Ward’s final touchdown pass--he threw two against Sacramento--was even more souped-up than usual. He lined up at tailback, took a pitchout from Scott, ran to his left, then stopped, eluding a pass rusher, and threw a 23-yard strike down the right sideline to Scott.

“If it is on the money, it’s going to work,” Ward said, “regardless of what they’ve seen or what they try to do.”

Ward also caught a team-high 31 passes for 273 yards this season, but none for touchdowns.

A quarterback at Los Angeles High and Compton College, he has no regrets about playing wide receiver for the Matadors.

“I thought wide receiver would be better for my future, though it seems playing quarterback this year on these trick plays has helped me a lot,” he said.

Burt, whose team finished with a 3-7 record, was never tempted to convert Ward to a traditional quarterback role because of his size. He is generously listed at 5 feet 9 and 165 pounds.

But, said Paul Peters, who caught two of Ward’s touchdown strikes, one of them on a play that went 66 yards: “He only lacks height, and he doesn’t let that stop him. To me, I know it is going to be a touchdown even before I leave the huddle.”