Collaros needs to be starter

Brian Kelly cannot escape questions, controversies and injuries at the quarterback position.

When the head coach began his first full season in Cincinnati in 2007 he brought in Wake Forest transfer Ben Mauk to quarterback for the Bearcats.

Just one season before, Mauk seriously injured his throwing arm after diving for a fumble in the Demon Deacons’ first game.

The “Bionic Man,” as his UC teammates called him, had a titanium plate and eight screws inserted in his arm before leading the Bearcats to a 10-3 record and a victory over Southern Miss in the 2007 PapaJohns.com Bowl.

The offseason was then filled with questions surrounding Mauk. A war of words and paperwork between the team and the NCAA failed to secure Mauk another year of eligibility.

Enter Dustin Grutza, who earned the starting quarterback job heading into last season. We all know what happened next.

Injuries forced Kelly to use five quarterbacks en route to winning his first Big East championship and making the teams’ first BCS bowl game appearance.

Grutza broke his leg Sept. 6, 2008, in a 52-26 loss on the road to the Oklahoma Sooners. By the time Grutza’s leg healed, backup Tony Pike had solidified himself as the team’s starter.

Grutza would return later in the season to help lead the Bearcats to wins against Louisville and Hawaii. Pike’s play while Grutza had been out was good enough to prevent Grutza from starting another game.

Pike started this season as well as any quarterback in the country.

Through the first five and a half games of the season, Pike had completed more than 64 percent of his passes for 1,633 yards with 15 touchdowns and only three interceptions.

But Pike’s broken left forearm from last season was aggravated Oct. 15 against South Florida and the senior was forced out of the game early in the second half.

Enter redshirt sophomore Zach Collaros, who exploded for 132 yards and two touchdowns on 10 carries in the second half as the Bearcats beat the Bulls 34-17.

Since filling in for Pike, Collaros has completed more than 78 percent of his passes (70-of-89) for 1,050 yards and eight touchdowns. On the ground, he’s averaging more than six and a half yards per carry and has four more scores.

Saturday night against Connecticut, Collaros threw for the second-most yards in a game in school history (480) and his 555 total yards set a school and Big East record.

Talk going into the UConn game was that Pike would be available to play and might see some playing time in an effort to dust off some rust before Friday’s game against West Virginia, where he was expected to start.

Now there is no way Kelly can start the former Heisman candidate. Pike was brilliant in the season’s first five games, but Collaros’ play in four conference wins this past month has been out of this world.

Kelly has no excuse for putting Collaros back on the bench, especially after his performance against the Huskies.

Collaros also proved he can answer the call in a clutch situation, going 4-for-4 for 33 yards on a game-clinching touchdown drive that began with less than five minutes to play.

One year ago it was Pike who, while filling in for the injured Grutza, put a stranglehold on the starting quarterback position. Grutza, despite being a senior and having first earned the starting job in the preseason, never started under center again.

This year it’s Pike who is the senior and who went out with an injury.

Collaros has come in and made believers out of fans. Now he has to get coach Kelly on board.

Kelly had said early last week that the starting quarterback job would be Pike’s once he was healed and able to protect himself in the backfield. After Collaros’s performance against UConn, he said he’d have to reconsider that decision.

The right decision would be to start Collaros on Friday against the Mountaineers.

As they say, “ride him while he’s hot.”

Collaros or Pike? Who do you think should be the starter? E-mail Sam at elliotsu@mail.uc.edu