Walker Learns of Limelight : UCLA’s Accidental Starting Quarterback Escapes the Shadows

Rob Walker, UCLA’s new quarterback, faced his first blitz Monday and managed to elude the media rushers.

A redshirt freshman who didn’t expect to play much this season, Walker, 6 feet 3 and 198 pounds, became the Bruins’ starter when Wayne Cook suffered a season-ending knee injury in the first half of a 37-14 season-opening victory over Cal State Fullerton last Saturday.

Walker, who hadn’t been in demand for interviews before Cook’s injury, was surrounded by TV cameras, note pads and tape recorders when he gave a group interview at the J.D. Morgan Athletics Center.

“This is a shock,” Walker said. “I never envisioned myself sitting here with y’all talking to me.”

Although Walker was poised during the session with reporters, he said he was nervous when he played his first college game Saturday.

“It was really like a dream,” Walker said. “I had never really anticipated playing that early (in the season), and when it happened I had to run and find my helmet and throw it on and get in there.”

Walker’s teammates could tell he was nervous.

“When he first came in he had his mouthpiece in his helmet,” wide receiver Sean LaChapelle said. “I said, ‘Rob, come here buddy. You might want to go ahead and put your mouthpiece in.’ ”

Walker grew up in Austin, Tex., and talks with a slight Texas twang. His nervousness Saturday showed when he talked so fast his teammates had a hard time understanding him in the huddle.

“Rick Daly, our tight end, said he didn’t know if it was Texas slang or a mouse talking 500 words a minute,” Walker said. “There were a few times where I had to check off at the line, and (running backs) Kaleaph Carter and Daron Washington kept asking me what I was saying.”

Walker, who completed five of 12 passes for 58 yards in his debut, will get his first start Saturday when No. 15 UCLA plays Brigham Young at Provo, Utah.

If Walker was nervous playing Cal State Fullerton at home, how will he handle himself in front of a sellout crowd of 65,000 on the road?

“He’s going to be fine,” LaChapelle said. “He wasn’t ready to jump in because I don’t think he was expecting to play. Now that he knows he going to start, he’ll be fine.”

The Bruins are confident that Walker can become a productive quarterback.

“I don’t think it changes (the outlook for the season) at all,” LaChapelle said. “I’ve seen Rob play, and he improved a lot during the off-season.”

Walker, who ran the scout team last season, is still learning UCLA’s offense.

“When you run the scout team, you really don’t get to grasp any of the offense,” Walker said. “My real learning came in spring practice, when I was able to watch Wayne. I’d say I’ve got about 60% of the offense down, but enough to beat BYU.”

Walker entered UCLA in 1991 but didn’t expect to play until 1993. He was elevated to the backup role when Cook became the starter after Tommy Maddox renounced his final two years of eligibility to enter the NFL draft.

Walker got another promotion after Cook tore two ligaments in his right knee when he was sacked by Titan defensive end Randy Strickland.

“It’s the opportunity of a lifetime,” Walker said. “I’ve got to go out and do the job as good as Wayne Cook or better.”

Walker realizes that UCLA fans, used to former Bruins Troy Aikman and Maddox, might be impatient with him at first. But he had a message for them. “Stick with me,” Walker said. “We’re going to get through the hard times. There’s going to be some hard times, but I’ve got confidence in my ability.”

Coach Terry Donahue said Walker is UCLA’s most improved player.

“I’ve been impressed with Rob Walker since we came back for two-a-days, and I was impressed with him Saturday night,” Donahue said. “Prior to those two events, I would not say I had a lot of confidence in him. He didn’t look very good to me in spring practice, and I was extremely concerned about the backup quarterback coming out of spring practice.

“I think his throwing arm (improved) over the summer. His throwing arm looked clearly different the minute I saw him throw the first ball this fall, as compared to the last ball last spring.”

Playing in a run-oriented offense at Lake Travis High in Austin, Walker passed for 2,100 yards and 30 touchdowns in his three-year career. But his team lost seven of 10 games when he was a senior.

His prep coach, Roy Farmer, said Walker was hampered because he wasn’t surrounded by talented players in high school.

“We didn’t have a lot of receivers for Robbie to throw to,” Farmer said. “We probably dropped 35-40 passes when he was a senior. And I mean flat-out dropped them. Robbie would hit them in the chest or in the facemask and they’d just bounce off. He just had too much of an arm for our kids to handle.

“He had to develop his skills as a quarterback in a little different manner than people coming out of big schools who have great receivers and great running backs.”

Walker was offered a scholarship by Texas Tech but had hoped to go to Texas. The Longhorns didn’t offer him a scholarship, though, because they didn’t believe he could run the option.

UCLA was attracted to Walker because he was an all-around athlete. An all-district basketball player, Walker averaged 21.5 points and 9.7 rebounds and also led the golf team to third place in the state tournament as a senior.

“The day football was over, they had a basketball tournament and he scored 26 points,” Farmer said. “The day basketball was over he went into the golf program and shot a 73.”

But Walker was born to play football.

His father, Pat, who quarterbacked Texas A&I; to the NAIA championship in 1969, has been a football coach for 24 years, working at eight Texas high schools and spending a year as an assistant at the University of Texas.

When Walker’s father got his first coaching job at Ferris High, Rob tagged along as the water boy.

Walker’s father later coached him as an assistant at Lake Travis. After Walker had graduated from high school, Pat Walker took a job as the head coach at John Jay High in San Antonio.

Although his own team plays Friday night, Pat Walker plans to fly to Provo on Saturday to watch his son’s debut as a starting quarterback. And he’s confident Rob will be successful.

“As a coach, I’ve moved around a lot, and Rob has had to adapt to a lot of situations,” Pat Walker said. “I know there’s going to be a lot of pressure on him, but I told him to just play within himself.

“He didn’t understand that, but he has 10 great players in front of him, and all he has to do is not try and do it all himself.”