Learning to Do the Right Thing : Tulsa: Quarterback T.J. Rubley shows that his intense training has not gone to the dogs.

To figure out Tulsa quarterback T.J. Rubley, it helps to understand Bo.

Bo, Rubley’s ex-roommate, has excellent reflexes, is quick, has brown eyes, stands a little under 2-feet tall and is covered with black fur.

He is a black Labrador.

What is unique about Bo is that he reads. Rubley has two flash cards--one that says “Sit” and one that says “Shake.” Rubley will hold up “Sit,” without saying a word, and Bo will eyeball the card and then sit down. And when Rubley holds up “Shake,” Bo offers a paw.

It is trained behavior, and that’s where Bo and T.J. are kindred spirits. It is not unlike Rubley’s actions when he steps onto the football field.

Rubley, who is 12th on the NCAA’s all-time passing list with 9,324 yards and will finish his Tulsa career against San Diego State in tonight’s Freedom Bowl, is the youngest of seven boys. He already has played in four seasons, including two bowl games, and three games of another season that ended prematurely when he tore up a knee. Tulsa coaches tell you he is a winner, and they also mention his strong arm and his competitive nature.

But his real strength comes from family ties.

All six of his brothers played football. For 12 consecutive falls, a Rubley was the quarterback at the Davenport (Iowa) West High.

As far back as he can remember, he has spent his days learning about football. By the time he was in eighth grade, his brothers were using chess pieces to set up defenses and demanding that Rubley identify each defense in three seconds. And to ensure he had only three seconds, they would blindfold him while they arranged the pieces.

It was all approached very logically.

But his brothers had advanced beyond simple high school schemes. Terry Rubley played for Earle Bruce at Iowa State; Todd Rubley played for Pat Dye at Auburn. Bruce was influenced by Woody Hayes; Dye came from the Bear Bryant school of football.

So T.J. Rubley was tutored under both philosophies.

Which didn’t make for an easy high school experience.

“High school was very difficult for me, learning the college game and playing with high school kids,” Rubley said. “Kids wouldn’t do what they were supposed to, and I was like, ‘What the hell?’ ”

In a sport of trained behavior, Rubley became lost when the patterns and schemes went awry.

Rubley’s six older brothers range in age from 39 to 27. T.J. would watch films with them, and they taught the new quarterback old tricks.

“Little things,” Rubley said. “Tell a receiver, ‘Don’t get nine yards, get 10.’ And if on an away field, get 11. The first thing you do when you walk into a visiting stadium is know where the 25-second clock is.”

And so on. Rubley has a mental checklist he prepares before each game.

“I’ve never been around a guy who studies the game more than he does,” said Rockey Felker, Tulsa offensive coordinator. “He’s real astute. I haven’t been around a quarterback who sees the defense and reacts better than he does.”

Rubley became a starter as a true freshman and, after going through the first two losing seasons of his life, led Tulsa to the Independence Bowl as a junior.

But you can’t plan everything on the football field, and there wasn’t much Rubley could do when he ripped up his knee three games into last season. It was his senior year and, suddenly, it was finished.

He hurt it on new artificial turf at Arkansas in one of those horrible moments when his foot caught while he twisted, caught bad enough to rip his anterior cruciate ligament.

Rubley’s reaction? He said the knee injury was much easier to deal with than his first two seasons at Tulsa--his first dog days--when the team finished 3-8 and 4-7.

“I was never taught how to lose,” he said.

He has learned how to take care of himself. He had bought a $1 million Lloyd’s of London insurance policy before his senior season and, after undergoing two knee surgeries, wondered whether he should collect the insurance, return to Tulsa for his last season of eligibility or declare himself eligible for the NFL draft.

He quickly narrowed the three choices down to two. If not for the second surgery, doctors told him he wouldn’t have passed an NFL physical--which would have been grounds for an insurance claim. Friends and acquaintances who played in the NFL had told him to take the money and forget the surgery. Rubley decided he wanted to play. He underwent the second surgery.

As for Bo, who has obviously learned quite a bit himself in his 21 months, the training is not yet finished.

“The only thing I haven’t been able to get him to do is shake his head yes or no,” Rubley said. “That’s the only thing he can’t grasp.”