The Big 12 season will begin for many teams this weekend including Iowa State, and the conference known for producing some of college footballs best running backs, will feature a solid group of both young and veteran quarterbacks. These quarterbacks have a mix of raw throwing ability and a couple who can also prove to be weapons running the ball. The cream of the crop is Nebraska’s Eric Crouch. Crouch combines solid passing skills with his gifted running attack to lead the Huskers. He has shown off both skills so far this year, running in the game winning touchdown against Notre Dame in overtime, and delivering a `Hail Mary’ against Iowa to give the number one Cornhuskers a 21-13 halftime lead. The senior Crouch may be the best QB in the nation, but he is not as electrifying as Virginia Tech’s Michael Vick or Georgia’s Quincy Carter, and he isn’t as good of a passer as Drew Brees from Purdue, so he probably won’t win the Heisman Trophy. What he does is play hard-nosed football. He’s not afraid to take a hit, and he’s not afraid to give one. Ask the Hawkeyes. Crouch ran for 93 yards against them last week, along with passing for 159 yards on 10 of 13 completions. Iowa State has a savvy veteran of its own in Sage Rosenfels. Rosenfels has been the catalyst for the Cyclones 3-0 team so far this year. He rushed for two touchdowns against Iowa, including one late in the fourth quarter that sealed Iowa State’s 24-14 victory and was honored as the Big 12 offensive player of the week. But rushing isn’t the only thing he can do. After struggling in the season opener against Ohio, the senior Rosenfels has regained the form that prompted one NFL combing to rank him as the second-best senior quarterback in the nation, behind Brees. Against UNLV, Rosenfels passed for 286 yards and two touchdowns while completing 16 of 31 passes. He was 17 for 26 against Iowa for 228 yards. Rosenfels is a prime reason the Cyclones have topped over 400 yards in all three of their games for the first time ever. But the Big 12 isn’t all about running and passing, there are some more conventional quarterbacks who like to pass more than run. Josh Heupel senior from Oklahoma, has NFL scouts eyes lighting up with his prolific numbers from last year. Heupel set Big 12 records for passing yards (3,460), pass completions (310), touchdown passes (30) and completion percentage (.620). He was well-deserved Newcomer of the Year in the conference. This season his numbers aren’t quite so explosive, but probably won’t be long before he starts airing it out, something Oklahoma will want to do if it hopes to contend in the Big 12 South. This season, Heupel is 42 of 68 passing for 575 yards, which places him at the top of the conference. The biggest surprise of the season is Texas Tech’s Kliff Kingsbury. He is blowing out the rest of the Big 12 in passing yards with 1,114, over 400 more than his closest competitor Rosenfels. By completing 120 out of 186 passes for seven touchdowns, the sophomore may challenge Heupel’s records from last year and for the next two years. National powerhouse Texas has been fresh off a quarterback controversy. Chris Simms was named the starter for the season, despite the fact that Major Applewhite led the Longhorns to the Cotton Bowl last year. Applewhite junior this season, passed for 3,357 yards and 21 touchdowns in 1999 and was quickly inserted into the opening game this year when Simms struggled against Louisiana-Lafayette. All Applewhite did was lead the Longhorns to a come-from-behind win. Kansas State has a lethal shot caller in senior Jonathan Beasley, who has thrown for 629 yards so far, but the Wildcats have played against less than able foes, so what he can do under pressure is yet to be determined. The wildcard may be Baylor’s Guy Tomcheck. Not expecting to see a lot of action, the redshirt freshman stepped in for his first start last week against South Florida because of a season-ending injury to starter Greg Cicero. Tomcheck was 20 of 28 and 223 yards for three scores in his first game and it should be interesting to see how he handles the pressure of the Big 12. The rest of the Big 12 class will also be looking to step up and make a name in 2000, but to do so the teams will have to leap out of the shadow of seniors Eric Crouch, Sage Rosenfels and Josh Heupel. Kliff Kingsbury looks poised to do so, but only time will tell if he can continue his pace in conference play. Can any other QB do it this year? We’ll have to wait and see.