Boller Has Same Old Touch in First Start at California

Kyle Boller looked like he had just finished a boxing match rather than a football game.

There was an ice pack wrapped around his right elbow and ice taped to his left wrist.

“It looks worse than it is,” he said with a sheepish grin.

Same old Kyle.

Barely 18 years old and the youngest quarterback to start a football game in California Golden Bear history, Boller left an indelible impression for the 44,500 sun-soaked spectators on a gorgeous Saturday afternoon at Memorial Stadium.

Facing blitz upon blitz from an Arizona State defense determined to rattle the freshman, Boller was the one left standing in triumph. He completed 17 of 32 passes for 213 yards and two touchdowns with one interception to help California defeat the Sun Devils, 24-23.

“He’s a cold-blooded assassin,” Coach Tom Holmoe said. “He doesn’t show emotion during the game. The only time you see the emotion is when we score. Then he seems to let his hair down a little bit.”

Same old Kyle.

The resiliency, toughness and fearlessness Boller brings out each time he steps on the field no longer surprises his California coaches and teammates, for they are beginning to believe in him just like the players from Hart High, where Boller passed for 4,838 yards and 59 touchdowns last season.

What he has accomplished to thrust himself into a starting role after only seven weeks of college practice is impressive enough. But then to see him perform as a competent, capable quarterback in a Pacific 10 Conference game only adds to the intrigue of just how good Boller might become when he really knows what he’s doing.

“It was real exciting,” Boller said. “I was a little nervous going in. After the first snap, I was all right. I need to keep working hard in practice, learning the defenses, learning the coverages.”

To understand what Boller achieved Saturday you must examine some of the difficult situations he faced and how he responded.

Late in the second quarter, with Cal trailing, 14-7, Boller was blitzed and sacked on consecutive plays. It was third and 30 from the Golden Bear 42. No one would have blamed Boller had he simply dumped off the ball to avoid another mugging.

Instead he ignored the rush and fired a 31-yard pass to Michael Ainsworth for a first down. Two plays later, he passed 16 yards to Marcus Fields for a touchdown and a 14-14 halftime tie.

In the second half, Boller was struggling. Cal’s first three possessions went three plays and punt. On the fourth possession, Boller had a pass intercepted.

The Golden Bears were behind, 23-14, in the fourth quarter and had yet to make a first down after halftime. But in Elwayesque fashion, Boller launched his first fourth-quarter rally.

“It was cool,” he said.

He put together a 75-yard, eight-play scoring drive. Ainsworth caught a 12-yard touchdown pass with 10:05 left on a play in which Boller was ready for the blitzing linebackers and lofted the ball high and perfect for Ainsworth to run under.

Then, in the play that set up a game-winning 26-yard field goal by Jeremy Hershey with 7:11 left, Boller completed a 24-yard pass to Ronnie Davenport to the Arizona State six. It was thrown with Steve Young-like velocity.

Finally, Boller provided another example of his toughness in the final 90 seconds.

Cal was trying to run out the clock, but running back Joe Igber fumbled on the Arizona State 39 and linebacker Eric Fields picked up the ball and headed toward the end zone.

Enter Boller, who tackled him on the Cal 48.

“It was kind of cool,” Boller said. “I used to play safety in high school and like to hit.”

Same old Kyle.

In three weeks, Boller will be at the Rose Bowl to face UCLA, the team he grew up rooting for and the team he was ready to play for. But on a fateful day in June 1998, during a one-day summer camp attended by Boller and other top high school prospects, Bruin Coach Bob Toledo gave a scholarship to J.P. Losman of Venice instead of Boller.

Asked if he would have accepted the scholarship, Boller said, “I most likely would have, but I’m glad I’m here.”

Losman lasted only a few months at UCLA before transferring to Tulane. Boller is on his way to becoming a household name.

“With a lot of practice, things are going to keep getting better and better,” he said.

And that’s what always has separated Boller from his peers. As soon as he started his growth spurt after his freshman year, when he went from 5 feet 7 to 6-4 as a senior, his work ethic took care of the rest.

Last weekend, he returned home for a couple of days. He stopped by Hart to visit with friends, coaches and teachers.

“Hart was a cool place,” he said. “It was neat to see what was going on. Nothing has changed.”

Same old Kyle.

There were dozens of family members, friends and neighbors who made the trip here to see Boller’s first start.

No one was more proud than his father, Bob, a paramedic for the Burbank City Fire Department’s Station 13.

He keeps having to trade work days and use vacation time to see his son play and loving every minute of it.

“I get twice as nervous for him,” Bob said.

Kyle continues to have no fear of failure.

“You can’t be hesitant,” he said. “If you say, ‘I don’t want to throw it,’ bad things will happen.”

Boller’s teammates are still getting used to a teenager telling them what to do.

“He still looks like a little kid, but he’s growing up fast,” tight end Brian Surgener said.

For the record, Boller said, “I shave every once in a while.”

Same old Kyle.

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Eric Sondheimer’s local column appears Wednesday and Sunday. He can be reached at (818) 772-3422 or eric.sondheimerlatimes.com

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At First Glance

Quarterback Kyle Boller, from Hart High, made his first start for California Saturday. A look at the performances of highly regarded freshmen quarterbacks in their first college starts:

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QUARTERBACK SCHOOL YEAR OPPONENT GAME PA PC YDS TD INT SCORE Kyle Boller Cal 1999 Arizona State 3rd 32 17 213 2 1 24-23 Carson Palmer USC 1998 Washington 9th 31 18 279 1 0 33-10 Cade McNown UCLA 1995 Oregon 3rd 24 12 183 1 1 31-39 Peyton Manning Tennessee 1994 Washington St. 5th 14 7 79 0 0 10-9 Drew Bledsoe Washington St. 1990 Oregon State 8th 20 10 188 3 0 55-24

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