Nick Foles makes NFL debut, ending 39-year drought for Arizona Wildcats QBs

Nick Foles made his debut with the Philadelphia Eagles on Sunday afternoon, becoming the first former Arizona Wildcats quarterback to throw a pass in the NFL in exactly 39 years.

The drought is over. Finally over.

The last time an Arizona quarterback threw a pass in the NFL was Nov. 11, 1973, when Bill Demory, a 22-year-old undrafted rookie subbing for an injured Joe Namath, played for the New York Jets against the New England Patriots.

From the start of the 1974 season through the start of this season, the rest of the Pac-10 schools (we’re not including newcomers Utah and Colorado), produced quarterbacks who started 3,659 NFL games and threw for 785,236 yards and 4,525 touchdowns — all while Arizona was shut out.

No longer.

Foles entered in the second quarter for a concussed Michael Vick and, through an up-and-down performance, completed 22 of 32 passes for 219 yards, with one touchdown and one interception, in a 38-23 loss to Dallas.

Foles also lost a fumble on a sack in the final minute when the Eagles were backed up at their 6. Dallas recovered for a touchdown.

“Not good enough to win. I made some mistakes,” Foles said in his postgame press conference (video here).

“I can’t turn the ball over. That’s the most important thing to winning games; we can’t turn the ball over. I turned it over twice. It ended up being touchdowns. I can’t do that. But it’s a learning experience.”

Foles’ highlight was a 44-yard touchdown pass to Jeremy Maclin early in third quarter. Foles, with plenty of time (a rarity behind a banged-up offensive line), worked out of the pocket to the right, set, and heaved a pass just beyond the goal line to Maclin. (Video here from NFL.com)

The interception, which was returned 47 yards for a touchdown, came after DeSean Jackson bobbled the pass. Foles faulted himself for throwing the pass behind Jackson instead of hitting him in stride.

Another potential interception return for a touchdown was called back because of defensive holding.

“For not having practiced at all with the first group, I thought he came in and did some good things,” coach Andy Reid said.

“There are some plays he would like to have back, but he kept battling. He kept his eyes downfield. There are some positives there. We just can’t have the turnovers.”

Foles, a third-round pick, had a brilliant preseason and has become a fan favorite — as a second-string quarterback often is — while Vick has struggled with turnovers and the Eagles’ season has spiraled. They are 3-6 and have lost five in a row.

Whether Foles makes his first start this week at the Washington Redskins will depend on Vick’s health.

Foles wasn’t the immediate savior; he didn’t have a happy ending in his first NFL game. There is more ailing the Eagles right now than the quarterback position, so Foles — especially behind that line — is in a tough spot.

Hey, that’s the NFL.

“I felt comfortable out there,” Foles said.

“When I get in the huddle with those guys, you’re a team, you’re brothers. I looked into their eyes and I felt comfortable.”

* * *

Here is a look at the quarterback totals from Pac-10 schools since the start of the 1974 season until the beginning of the 2012 season (ranked by passing yards), followed by a breakdown of each team:

(Source: pro-football-reference.com. Some quarterbacks played for more than one school in college and did not necessarily complete their eligibility with a Pac-10 team. Some quarterbacks have only partial career stats on this list, because anything before 1974 was eliminated.)

School	G	GS	Cmp	Att	Yds	TD	Int
Washington	840	618	11294	19358	135911	769	638
USC	743	486	8680	15135	103900	589	565
Stanford	672	463	7838	14085	96184	539	531
Arizona State	713	448	7790	14070	95374	558	580
UCLA	619	442	7551	13329	90138	506	457
Oregon	490	395	7324	12960	88044	502	492
California	524	391	6640	11540	81495	529	463
Washington State	416	333	6369	11385	75833	429	399
Oregon State	129	83	1537	2868	18357	104	116
Arizona	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
	5146	3659	65023	114730	785236	4525	4241

* * *

Arizona State	G	GS	Cmp	Att	Yds	TD	Int
Jake Plummer	143	136	2484	4350	29253	161	161
Danny White	166	92	1761	2950	21959	155	132
Bill Kenney	106	77	1330	2430	17277	105	86
Mark Malone	73	53	839	1648	10175	60	81
Mike Pagel	132	54	756	1509	9414	49	63
Paul Justin	34	10	220	380	2614	8	10
Andrew Walter	15	9	174	333	1919	3	16
Bob Lee	29	13	153	314	1886	11	23
Todd Hons	3	3	43	92	552	5	5
Jeff Van Raaphorst	2	1	18	34	174	1	2
Dennis Sproul	6	0	5	13	87	0	0
Sandy Osiecki	4	0	7	17	64	0	1
Totals	713	448	7790	14070	95374	558	580

California	G	GS	Cmp	Att	Yds	TD	Int
Steve Bartkowski	129	127	1932	3456	24124	156	144
Craig Morton	108	98	1370	2480	17641	103	114
Aaron Rodgers	69	62	1381	2113	17366	132	38
Vince Ferragamo	75	53	902	1615	11336	76	91
Kyle Boller	67	47	861	1519	8931	48	54
Gale Gilbert	58	4	146	259	1544	9	12
Rich Campbell	7	0	31	68	386	3	9
Troy Taylor	7	0	12	20	125	2	1
Dave Barr	2	0	5	9	42	0	0
Perry Klein	2	0	0	1	0	0	0
Totals	524	391	6640	11540	81495	529	463

Oregon	G	GS	Cmp	Att	Yds	TD	Int
Dan Fouts	171	165	3210	5410	41914	248	229
Chris Miller	98	92	1580	2892	19320	123	102
Joey Harrington	81	76	1424	2538	14693	79	85
Kellen Clemens	28	12	195	375	2232	7	12
A.J. Feeley	28	18	425	762	4618	28	31
Akili Smith	22	17	215	461	2212	5	13
Tony Graziani	18	5	85	174	999	2	8
June Jones	17	5	75	166	923	3	7
Bill Musgrave	12	1	43	69	402	1	2
Bob Berry	11	1	37	54	329	5	1
Dennis Dixon	4	3	35	59	402	1	2
Totals	490	395	7324	12960	88044	502	492

Oregon State	G	GS	Cmp	Att	Yds	TD	Int
Derek Anderson	53	43	756	1436	9148	53	55
Matt Moore	35	25	437	739	5137	32	26
Craig Whelihan	19	14	267	557	3160	14	29
Erik Wilhelm	22	1	77	136	912	5	6
Totals	129	83	1537	2868	18357	104	116

Stanford	G	GS	Cmp	Att	Yds	TD	Int
John Elway	234	231	4123	7250	51475	300	226
Jim Plunkett	115	102	1423	2642	18978	124	140
Trent Edwards	37	33	561	927	6019	26	30
Steve Dils	106	27	504	972	5816	27	32
Turk Schonert	72	12	311	504	3788	11	20
Mike Boryla	23	19	272	519	2838	20	29
Chad Hutchinson	15	14	220	413	2466	11	11
Steve Stenstrom	17	10	177	314	1895	4	12
Jesse Freitas	13	7	98	219	1244	8	13
Babe Laufenberg	16	7	93	211	1057	5	11
Guy Benjamin	19	0	39	68	439	3	3
Randy Fasani	4	1	15	44	171	0	4
Todd Husak	1	0	2	2	-2	0	0
Totals	672	463	7838	14085	96184	539	531

UCLA	G	GS	Cmp	Att	Yds	TD	Int
Troy Aikman	165	165	2898	4715	32942	165	141
Jay Schroeder	118	99	1426	2808	20063	114	108
Steve Bono	88	42	934	1701	10439	62	42
Tommy Maddox	93	36	686	1200	8087	48	54
Billy Kilmer	46	41	545	1033	6827	57	42
J.P. Losman	45	33	564	952	6271	33	34
Cade McNown	25	15	281	515	3111	16	19
Tom Ramsey	28	5	108	214	1285	7	10
David Norrie	2	2	35	68	376	1	4
Rick Neuheisel	3	2	40	59	367	1	1
Matt Stevens	3	2	32	57	315	1	1
Bernard Quarles	1	0	1	3	40	1	1
Jeff Knapple	2	0	1	4	15	0	0
Totals	619	442	7551	13329	90138	506	457

USC	G	GS	Cmp	Att	Yds	TD	Int
Carson Palmer	107	106	2223	3545	25447	167	116
Rodney Peete	104	87	1344	2346	16338	76	92
Matt Cassel	69	54	1042	1767	11699	76	45
Vince Evans	100	39	704	1390	9485	52	74
Pat Haden	65	55	731	1363	9296	52	60
Mark Sanchez	47	47	782	1414	9209	55	51
Rob Johnson	48	29	494	806	5795	30	23
Paul McDonald	85	21	411	767	5269	24	37
Matt Leinart	31	18	350	608	3950	15	20
Sean Salisbury	40	12	318	577	3824	19	19
Mike Rae	28	8	124	249	1536	12	14
Todd Marinovich	8	8	104	205	1345	8	9
Scott Tinsley	3	2	48	86	637	3	4
Dennis Shaw	5	0	4	8	61	0	1
Rob Hertel	3	0	1	4	9	0	0
Totals	743	486	8680	15135	103900	589	565

Washington	G	GS	Cmp	Att	Yds	TD	Int
Warren Moon	208	203	3988	6823	49325	291	233
Mark Brunell	193	151	2761	4640	32072	184	108
Chris Chandler	180	152	2328	4005	28484	170	146
Steve Pelluer	65	30	548	974	6870	29	39
Hugh Millen	40	25	560	928	6440	22	35
Damon Huard	64	27	574	946	6303	33	26
Billy Joe Hobert	29	17	275	527	3371	23	25
Brock Huard	8	4	60	107	689	4	2
Cary Conklin	7	2	52	101	560	5	3
Marques Tuiasosopo	13	2	49	90	554	2	7
Jake Locker	5	0	34	66	542	4	0
Tom Flick	21	3	47	106	506	2	10
Cody Pickett	7	2	18	45	195	0	4
Totals	840	618	11294	19358	135911	769	638

Washington State	G	GS	Cmp	Att	Yds	TD	Int
Drew Bledsoe	194	193	3839	6717	44611	251	206
Mark Rypien	104	78	1466	2613	18473	115	88
Jack Thompson	51	21	449	845	5315	33	45
Timm Rosenbach	26	20	295	551	3676	16	24
Ryan Leaf	25	21	317	655	3666	14	36
Ricky Turner	4	0	3	4	92	0	0
Don Horn	12	0	0	0	0	0	0
Totals	416	333	6369	11385	75833	429	399