When Kansas University football coach Mark Mangino accepted an invitation last month to play North Carolina State Monday in Orlando, Fla., Tangerine Bowl officials hailed their event as a matchup of two talented senior quarterbacks.
KU’s Bill Whittemore — a third-team All-Big 12 selection — probably could have done without the comparisons to Atlantic Coast Conference Player of the Year Philip Rivers that followed.
“I’ve seen a couple of his statistics,” Whittemore said. “That’s why I think it’s very overhyped. He’s doubled and tripled most of my stats, so I don’t know that I’m in the same category. He’s a great quarterback. He’s up for all the awards. I guess I’m honored to be compared to him.”
Whittemore set a KU single-season record with 16 touchdown passes, despite missing three games and most of another with a collarbone injury. He completed 62.6 percent (139 of 222) of his passes for 2,142 yards — the fourth-highest total in school history — with four interceptions.
Kansas set single-season school records for average yards per game (418) and passing touchdowns (23) and tied the record for completions (235). The Jayhawks’ average of 256.8 yards passing ranked second in school history. That high-powered offense helped KU improve from 2-10 in coach Mark Mangino’s first season to 6-6 this year, and the Jayhawks earned their first bowl berth since 1995.
But Whittemore was correct. Rivers’ numbers dwarf his.
Rivers, a finalist for the Walter Camp and Davey O’Brien Awards, completed an ACC-record 71 percent of his passes for 4,016 yards and 29 touchdowns with seven interceptions.
Whittemore’s totals would have been significantly better if he had played a full season, but Rivers’ average of 334.7 passing yards a game still topped Whittemore’s 238. Rivers ranks second in the nation in pass efficiency (166.7), while Whittemore is fifth (163.8).
“He’s a great quarterback,” Whittemore said. “He’s what they look for in the pros. You can learn a lot from a guy like that. He goes through the correct reads. He’s got great mechanics. He’s a great quarterback.”
So is Whittemore. Like Rivers, who led the Wolfpack to four straight bowl games after five years of mediocrity, Whittemore, a senior from Brentwood, Tenn., has been the key player in KU’s rebuilding effort.
The similarities stop there.
Too small for football?
Rivers (6-foot-5, 236 pounds), who has started an NCAA-record 50 straight games and rewritten the ACC record book in the process, might as well pack his bags for NFL Draft day. Whittemore (6-0, 205), on the other hand, could be playing his final game. KU’s captain is small by pro standards and has missed time in all four of his college seasons because of injuries.
At one point during his recovery this season he “wondered if this body was made for football.”
Whittemore’s prospects of a pro career haven’t been helped by playing for a rebuilding team shunned by television. The Jayhawks have played in just two televised games this season, and the quarterback missed one of those because of his injury.
Whittemore would like to keep the focus on his team this month, but he acknowledged that the nationally televised bowl game on ESPN would be an opportunity for him to show pro scouts what he can do.
“Hopefully, things work out for the best, but I’m not going to be thinking about that during the game, and no one else is either,” he said. “If I stand out, great. If not, I’m going to play my game the best I can play it, so whatever happens, happens. I’d love keep playing somewhere, but it’s got to be the right situation for me. I don’t know what they’re thinking. They’re probably thinking too small, too beat up, but I feel fine. I feel like if the opportunity is out there, I’ll be ready to go.”
Whittemore has been proving people wrong for a long time. He was an all-state selection, Tennessee player of the year and MVP of the state’s shrine bowl his senior year at Brentwood High.
Few major colleges noticed.
Whittemore settled for a scholarship at Division I-AA Tennessee Martin. He took a red-shirt year his freshman season, and his sophomore season was interrupted by a knee injury.
UTM changed coaches — and drastically changed its offense — between his freshman and red-shirt freshman seasons, and Whittemore was ready for a change of his own as a sophomore. He decided to go the junior-college route and try for another shot at Division One.
He transferred to Fort Scott Community College, where he became MVP of the Jayhawk Conference.
Few major colleges noticed.
Other recruiters might have been scared off by the shoulder injury that sidelined the quarterback late in the season.
Once again, Whittemore was too small and too beat up.
“It’s definitely in the back of my mind,” Whittemore said of the knocks against him. “I’ve heard that for too long. I’m sure I’m going to hear it again. It’s a great opportunity for me. It’s not just me, though. Everybody else has to step up for us to look good. I’m going to play my best.”
Whittemore’s best has been pretty good. His seven 200-yard passing games tied for second on KU’s single-season chart, and the Jayhawks were 6-2 in the games he played from start to finish.
They were 0-4 without him.
“He makes them go,” said N.C. State coach Chuck Amato. “He’s their Philip Rivers. Look at the four games when he wasn’t there.”
While Whittemore wasn’t surprised by KU’s bowl berth, he admitted it seemed “far-fetched” that he would be able to come back from injury when he was hurt Oct. 25 at Kansas State.
Whittemore returned for the KU’s regular-season finale Nov. 22 and led the Jayhawks to a 36-7 victory over Iowa State on Senior Day.
“I was thrilled that I was healthy enough to play,” said Whittemore, who had 221 yards passing and 85 rushing against ISU. “That was a goal of mine to be out there at home for my last game at KU. It’s been a blessing for me to bounce back that quick.”
No doubt it was a blessing for Mangino, whose fledgling program gained four extra weeks of practice and needed exposure from the bowl game.
The coach was confident Whittemore would show no ill effects from his injury.
“He’s doing very well,” Mangino said. “He’s feeling better all the time. He played well against Iowa State, and he’s looking sharp on the practice field. He’s anxious to play in the bowl game.”
Whittemore said he saw the bowl berth coming.
“That’s why I transferred,” Whittemore said. “I was trying to get to a program that I felt could turn things around. It was tough. We struggled that first year, but everybody kept their heads on straight and worked hard throughout the offseason. I think a lot of people envisioned this.”
The oddsmakers envision an N.C. State victory. The Wolfpack (7-5) were installed as a double-digit favorite, and no doubt most of the experts will give the edge to NCSU and Rivers.
Whittemore, however, does bring at least one thing to the huddle that his counterpart does not. While Rivers likes to stay in the pocket, Whittemore is at his most dangerous on the run. He has rushed for 450 yards and nine touchdowns.
“He’s a threat to do anything,” Amato said. “He can throw it, he’s a great runner. Their offense has us scared to death.”
That might be because the Wolfpack’s defense has given up 417.5 yards and 29.9 points per game. KU’s defense has had similar problems, allowing 392.6 yards and 28.3 points.
“We’ve struggled at times,” Amato said. “It looks like it’s going to be a shootout.”
