Appalachian State wide receiver Brian Quick (8) completes this reception for a touchdown in second quarter action during a 2009 NCAA Division I college football championship playoff game in Boone, N.C.The half dozen or so NFL scouts who are expected to be at Kidd Brewer Stadium in Boone, N.C., on Saturday will probably have their eyes trained on the offenses for much of the game.
The 14th-ranked University of Tennessee at Chattanooga (2-1) has a highly rated quarterback in B.J. Coleman, and No. 3 Appalachian State (2-1) receiver Brian Quick is regarded as one of the better wideout prospects in college football.
"The best comment I can give to any receiver is 'scary,' and he's very scary - and that's a compliment," UTC coach Russ Huesman said. "Sometimes they're big and they don't run great, but he's big, he runs great, catches the football - he's a legit threat. And every NFL scout that comes through here has said, 'Oh, yeah, he's an NFL prospect, no question.'"
Coleman and Quick each is listed at 6-foot-5, 220 pounds, and they are two of the Football Championship Subdivision players who could get selected in the 2012 NFL draft next spring. Among the others are a trio of cornerbacks: Furman's Ryan Steed, Montana's Trumaine Johnson and Cal Poly's Asa Jackson.
Coleman is rated as high as the No. 6 quarterback this year by DraftCountdown.com, while ESPN/Scouts Inc. has him at No. 13. ESPN/Scouts Inc. lists Quick as the No. 6 wide receiver; other scouting websites have him a little lower.
"If they don't have good years, nothing's going to happen," Huesman said. "[The scouts will] disappear as fast as they showed up, and I think everybody understands that."
So far, Huesman said, Coleman has played "three great football games" this season.
"He's playing the way he's supposed to play and he's playing like an all-conference player," Huesman said. "He's excellent and thank goodness we've got him."
For Coleman and Quick, there are much more important matters to attend to in the days and weeks ahead.
"I'm just focusing on this year, and you never know what can happen," Quick said. "I'll let the rest of that take care of itself."
While Coleman has been grooming himself in the Peyton Manning mold for many years, Quick played only one year of high school football. ASU coach Jerry Moore said his star wideout's talents were obvious all along.
"When we recruited Brian, I couldn't believe that he had not played more football than he played because he had lots of traits of a really good receiver, lots of things that it takes sometimes years for a receiver to develop," Moore said.
In 25 games at UTC, a little more than two full seasons, Coleman has thrown for 6,091 yards, which is fourth all-time. He needs just 1,139 more to pass Chris Sanders for first place. His 47 touchdown passes are two shy of Sanders' mark.
Quick has 24 career touchdown catches, one short of ASU's 43-year-old mark of 25, and he could also leave as the all-time leader in receiving yards and receptions. In three games this season he has 19 catches for 304 yards and all four of ASU's receiving touchdowns.
"I honestly believe that's a guy that's going to be playing on Sundays," ASU quarterback DeAndre Presley said of Quick. "The guy's just a monster."
Extra Points
Huesman said defensive tackle Keyon Reed, who was arrested Sunday on a domestic assault charge, will not travel with the team. ... True freshman running back Marquis Green will make his first start against ASU, but Chris Awuah (ankle) and J.J. Jackson (knee) should be available.