Viking_Yearbook_93

completed 1992 season with 2,770 yards passing on 179 of 263 passing, a 68.1 percent passing perce completed 28 of 41 passes for 592 yards and eight touchdowns against Cal Poly F ormer PSU quarterback John Charles broke his left wrist on a late and vicious hit by a Cal State-Northridge player in the the third quarter of a 35-10 win on Nov. 7 in Los Angeles. The National Football League prospects for this senior from East Palo Alto, Calif, were still good, despite having to wear a cast for two months. Scouts from various NFL clubs had expressed interest in the 6- foot-1, 200-pounder, and as far as his former coaches are concerned it would be criminal for him not to be drafted. “I wish I was as good as coach as John Charles was a quarterback,” said former PSU offensive coordinator A1 Borges. “The time he took over the team in the fifth game of last year to the time he left the team he was phenomenal.” “His development as a quarterback in terms of game management with audibles and all the things a coach ask you to do was astronomical from his first year to his second. He was a confident, quiet yet exemplary leader.” The question of whether the hit was intentional or just an accident is still debated by the players and the coach­ es. “It’s just football,” Charles said. “You have to expect to get injured and if you don’t, you shouldn’t be playing football.” But Charles didn’t blame the Northridge player for the broken wrist, instead he felt the responsibility of the NCAA losing one of its most prolific passers rests solely on the shoulders of the game’s officials. “I blame the refereeing,” he commented. “They allowed those sort of hits most of the ► game and when they allow that the entire contest, they [opposing players] will keep doing it until something like this happens. But there are no hard feelings towards that player.” The injury actually has a good point for Charles, who has had even more time to help disadvantaged youths of Portland and speak out about the dangers of getting involved in gangs and drugs. He loves to share his experiences of avoiding the two dangers ever since he lost his father to AIDS, giving credit to his late parent for giving him strength and dis­ cipline to stay on the right path in life. With his good work off the field, it makes what he had done on the field that much more impressive as he garnered his third consecutive Western Football Conference Player of the Week Award the week he was injured. It was his fourth overall and helped him to col­ lect the WFC Player of the Year Award, and he finished third in balloting for the prestigious Harlon Hill Trophy. A psychology major, his accomplishments encom­ passed three broken NCAA records: most yards passing in a game [592], most yards per attempt for a season [10.6] and most yards per completion on a season [17.8]. The streak of conference honors and national acclaim began to roll when he was named Sports Illustrated’s Small College Player of the Week after the Boise State game in late October. “It was my best performance of my career,” Charles recalled. “I was relaxed and was aware of what was going on. By far, last year’s game with Cal Poly wasn’t as good as a performance because I threw into double coverage and the athletic ability of Mike Palomino [tight end] helped out more.” “I’ve never seen a more accurate quarterback,” said Texas Arts and Industry head coach Ron Harms. “He’s obviously one of the great ones. He is worthy of any honor he receives.” Stori/ £>y G. t-lilt compiled 6 ,2 9 7 ya rd s th rough th e air, 65 touchdowns, 18 in te rcep tions and had a 6 4 .0 p e rcen t pass ing efficiency ra ting

RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy NTc4NTAz