These Two Prove Benefit of Doubt Goes to Stanford

Quarterback Todd Husak and receiver Troy Walters should use their Stanford education to write a book titled “Recruiting Bloopers and Blunders: A Firsthand Account of the Inexact Science of College Recruiting.”

In high school, both heard the five most horrifying words in recruiting: “We’ll get back to you.”

Translation: You won’t get a scholarship unless our first choice falls through.

“Me and my mom started getting worried,” Walters said.

Said Husak: “I was disappointed, but I understood a lot of schools weren’t going to go after a kid who started one year of high school.”

So whatever happened to all those prep All-Americans supposedly better than Husak and Walters?

This season, Husak became the first Stanford quarterback since John Elway in 1982 to earn first-team All-Pacific 10 Conference honors. Walters received the Biletnikoff Award as the nation’s top receiver.

To the oddsmakers who have made Stanford an 11-point underdog against Wisconsin in the Rose Bowl, Husak and Walters appreciate your vote of no confidence. It’s just another opportunity to prove people wrong.

“We’re used to being the underdog and not getting a lot of respect, and that motivates us,” Husak said.

At St. John Bosco High in Bellflower, the 6-foot-3 Husak passed for 1,720 yards as a senior in 1995. Ivy League schools, particularly Pennsylvania, expressed the most interest.

But he attended Stanford’s football camp as a junior, loved the campus and told his parents, “This is where I want to go to school.”

Stanford sought a San Diego area quarterback, Mike Van Raaphorst, but when he committed to USC, Husak became a Cardinal.

He was more prepared than people realized. He received an athletic education by hanging around his father, Bill, who spent 19 years as an administrator and instructor at Long Beach State before becoming athletic director at Loyola Marymount two years ago.

The elder Husak introduced his young son to George Allen, the former Ram coach who was directing Long Beach State’s program before his death in 1990.

“I told 1/8Allen 3/8, ‘One day maybe he’d play for you,’ ” Bill said. “I think Todd is probably George’s kind of player. George liked the old-timers who got the most out of what they had.”

Husak spent two years as a backup at Stanford and became the starter last season, when the team finished 3-8. He passed for 3,092 yards, including a string of 159 consecutive passes without an interception.

An improved running attack, combined with a more experienced offensive line, enabled Husak to complete 57% of his passes this season for 2,688 yards and 18 touchdowns, helping Stanford reach the Rose Bowl for the first time since 1972.

“I asked Todd after the last game, ‘Tell me how you feel,’ ” Bill said. “He said, ‘It’s like a dream.’ To be the Pac-10 champions, to play Notre Dame and win on the last play of the game and to be going to the Rose Bowl, it is a dream. It’s wonderful when your dreams become reality.”

Like Husak, Walters had advantages in that his father, Trent, was an assistant at Texas A&M; and later with the Minnesota Vikings. Walters watched and asked questions of Viking receivers such as Cris Carter.

In three years at A&M; Consolidated High in College Station, Texas, home of Texas A&M;, Walters caught 133 passes for more than 2,000 yards.

Although he is only 5-8, his size never seemed a factor until college recruiting time. Tulsa, Duke and Texas Tech initially inquired, but all dropped out. Luck helped Walters end up at Stanford. His father’s office with the Vikings was next to that of Tyrone Willingham, who had been hired to coach Stanford. Walters asked Willingham to watch his son on video.

“Tape sold the kid,” the elder Walters said. “I’m grateful Tyrone would look at the tape and give him an opportunity.”

Walters’ 4.39-second 40-yard speed, fearlessness and intelligence helped him overcome any doubts about his size. As a sophomore in 1997, he had the best season by a Stanford receiver with 86 receptions for 1,206 yards and 11 touchdowns. This season, he was named the Pac-10 offensive player of the year after catching 74 passes for a conference-record 1,456 yards and scoring 10 touchdowns.

“I’m not the type of person who goes out for revenge,” Walters said. “I’ve believed in myself. All I needed was an opportunity. This offense is a fit for me. The knock on little guys is they can’t take a hit or aren’t durable. I think it’s the players themselves. If I was looking for someone, I’d look at their talent for making plays. I think that’s what it comes down to.”

So why did so many schools miss Husak and Walters?

“Recruiting is such a gamble,” Bill Husak said. “You try to get the odds on your side. It’s very difficult to project how a kid’s going to grow, how he’s going to develop, how his attitude is going to change over four, five years. In Troy and Todd’s case, I think they’re the victims of those projections. With Troy, it was size, but they don’t measure the heart and motivation to play.”

Said Trent: “The biggest thing 1/8with Troy 3/8 is he’s competitive. All his life, he’s been able to visualize himself being a success.”

Willingham said every day there’s an example of “how inexact the science is in recruiting.

“The NFL spends millions of dollars and resources trying to figure out who can play at that level and it’s amazing how many first-rounders don’t make it, how many second-rounders don’t make it, how many third-rounders don’t make it. There are people you just believe have all the right qualities and if they are a match for your system, then you take the chance. We were very fortunate 1/8with Husak and Walters 3/8.”

Walters wants to use his experience to inspire others.

“I have a joy for the game,” he said, “and 1/8I 3/8 try to show people in similar positions coming out of high school that little people can succeed.”

Rose Bowl

Wisconsin (9-2) vs. Stanford (8-3)

STILL HOBBLED

Coach Barry Alvarez, still dependent upon a cane after a Nov. 16 operation to replace his right knee, might not be on the sidelines when Wisconsin faces Stanford in the Rose Bowl. Page 6

OAHU BOWL

Dan Robinson threw two touchdown passes and Hawaii sacked Oregon State’s Jonathan Smith six times in a 23-17 victory. Page 6

ALOHA BOWL

Wake Forest quarterback Ben Sankey passed for 188 yards in a 23-3 victory over Arizona State. Page 6