Moving forward

Occidental has eight starters returning to its offense this season, but it seems all anyone wants to talk about is who isn’t back: quarterback Andy Collins.

Collins was the three-time Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference offensive player of the year, a second-team Division III All-American, and led the Tigers to three consecutive conference titles and a 26-game regular-season win streak.

So, inquiring minds want to know if Occidental can continue that level of success now that Collins has graduated.

“Well, you aren’t going to replace a guy like that,” Coach Dale Widolff said. “We had a veteran quarterback and a three-year starter who was awfully good. But I’m confident we still have talent at quarterback and if we get adequate play from that position, we’ll still be a very good offensive team.”

The problem is that Widolff hasn’t settled yet on a quarterback. The competition is among Justin Goltz, Scott Saunders and Danny Southwick.

Whoever wins the job will have some big cleats to fill. Collins last season led the SCIAC with 2,189 yards passing and 26 touchdowns. Under his guidance, Occidental averaged 39.2 points a game -- almost 10 points more than any other team in the conference.

Collins was invited to tryouts with the NFL’s New York Giants and the Canadian Football League’s Montreal Alouettes, and while he didn’t make either team, that alone was quite an accomplishment for a Division III quarterback.

Keeping the team on top has become a rallying cry for the players, who have heard all the questions about whether they can keep winning without Collins.

“Definitely that is the question around the conference,” Saunders said. “Can we do it without Andy? I think every player on this team wants to prove that we can.”

To do so, the Tigers will probably look more to senior running back Matt Andersen, an all-conference selection last season when he was second in the SCIAC with 668 yards rushing. He also added 224 yards receiving and led the league with 17 touchdowns.

“It’s a huge loss not having Andy,” Andersen said. “But one person doesn’t make the entire team. People think that we only had a great quarterback, and that’s true, we did. But we also had good receivers, running backs, linemen and defense. We’re looking forward to proving that we didn’t just revolve around Andy.”

Widolff said he’s telling this year’s quarterbacks not to try to be Collins or match what he did on the field.

“They all know they’re not [Collins],” Widolff said. “He was easily the best athlete on the team. I don’t think these guys think of themselves as the best athlete on the team. They’re excited to see if they can step in there, but I don’t think any of them are trying to emulate him.”

Replacing Collins will be only part of the challenge for the winner of the quarterback competition. Keeping alive the win streak is another. This year’s senior class has not lost a regular-season game since starting at Occidental.

“It’s hard not to think about that,” Andersen said. “For sure, we don’t want to lose. We want to keep the streak going, but we can’t think about that when the games start.”

The Tigers are also concerned with another streak: Consecutive postseason losses. They went to the Division III quarterfinals in 2004, but have lost in the first round of the playoffs in each of the last two seasons.

Those performances have fueled talk around the nation that the SCIAC is a weak conference, and Occidental players are itching for the chance to prove that wrong.

“People say winning our conference doesn’t mean anything,” Goltz said. “I’d say getting past the first couple of rounds of the playoffs is a huge goal for us.”

With Andersen back and running behind an offensive line that returns four starters, including 2006 all-conference selection Chris Kyles, the Tigers are again favored to win the SCIAC and qualify for the playoffs.

But there are holes to fill other than at quarterback. Widolff is equally concerned with the defense, which must replace two defensive backs, two linemen and two linebackers, including leading tackler Joe Zackary.

“That’s the funny thing,” Widolff said. “We’ve lost more players on defense, but everybody is talking about our quarterback.”

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peter.yoon@latimes.com

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Quick facts

* Top returning players: Matt Andersen, Sr., Occidental, RB -- His 17 touchdowns in 2006 were 10 more than anyone else in the SCIAC. Brock Arndt, Jr., DL, Redlands -- Led the SCIAC in tackles for a loss with 19, including five sacks. Travis Bengard, Jr., LB, Azusa Pacific -- Averaged 80 tackles and 10.5 for a loss the last two seasons. Jason Jenkins, So., Cal Lutheran, DL -- Tied for the SCIAC lead with 6.5 sacks last season. Chris Kyles, Sr., Occidental, OL -- Anchors a line with four returning starters. Matt Martini, Sr., Pomona-Pitzer, WR -- Led the SCIAC with 66 receptions and 928 yards receiving in 2006. Mike Moreno, Jr., La Verne, WR -- Second in the SCIAC with 61 receptions and 817 yards receiving in 2006. Connor Pearce, Sr., Cal Lutheran, K -- Made 14 of 17 field-goal attempts in 2006. Jose Rojas, Sr., Cal Lutheran, RB -- Averaged nearly six yards a carry last season. Zack Schafer, Jr., RB, Redlands -- Led the SCIAC with 1,075 yards rushing in 2006. Josh Scurlock, Sr., QB, Whittier -- Two-time All-SCIAC selection had 1,798 yards in total offense last season. Brad Smith, Sr., S, Redlands -- Had 50 tackles and two interceptions in 2006; he’s also a top kicker. Corey Tello, Sr., La Verne, LB -- 72 tackles were third in the SCIAC last season. Cameron Tucker, Sr., DB, Azusa Pacific -- Has nine career interceptions, including a team-leading four last season. Harrison Dull, Chapman, Jr., WR -- Caught 19 passes for 459 yards before suffering a torn ACL.

* Impact transfers: Nicholas Acuna, Whittier, So., RB -- Rushed for more than 1,000 yards at East L.A. College last year. Danny Southwick, Occidental, Sr., QB -- Former Utah redshirt needs time to learn the offense but could start by year’s end. Mike Visser, Azusa Pacific, Jr., OL -- At 6-4, 335 pounds, the transfer from Pima College in Arizona brings tremendous size to the NAIA level.

* Changing of the guard: Andrew Akeny replaces 12-year coach Don Morel at La Verne. Akeny spent the previous seven seasons as assistant head coach at East Texas Baptist University. Ben McEnroe replaces 11-year coach Scott Squires at Cal Lutheran. McEnroe was the coach at West Hills Chaminade High for the last four years. Last season, B.J. Hammer of Whittier, Victor Santa Cruz of Azusa Pacific and Bob Owens of Chapman coached their first seasons.

* Fast fact: Azusa Pacific is playing an 11-game schedule for only the second time in the program’s 43-year history. Not only that, but it’s also one of the most difficult. Six Cougars’ opponents were ranked in the NAIA national top 25 last year. They have also added upper-division Nicholls State to the schedule.

-- Peter Yoon