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• QB Charlie Frye moved up to No. 6 on the Mid-American Conference individual total offense chart with 183 yards this afternoon. Frye now has 9,938 career total offense yards, moving past Bowling Green's Brian McClure (1982-85, 9,774 yards) on the MAC list.

What a special QB McClure was. I'm sure you old-timers agree.

Respectfully,
niucob86

niucob86 wrote:• QB Charlie Frye moved up to No. 6 on the Mid-American Conference individual total offense chart with 183 yards this afternoon. Frye now has 9,938 career total offense yards, moving past Bowling Green's Brian McClure (1982-85, 9,774 yards) on the MAC list.

What a special QB McClure was. I'm sure you old-timers agree.

Respectfully,
niucob86

Agreed. Some of the numbers Josh Harris put up were astonishing, then to see he was still miles (literally!) away from what McClure did is amazing. Similar to Martin Bayless' interception mark (which I think is the BG and MAC career record at 27 or so). A guy gets labeled a "ball hawk" if he has 10-15 interceptions in his career, it seems.

Though the Frye mark might be for MAC-contests only, as I think McClure had over 10,000 yards passing alone, much less total offense, in his career.

I'm sure some of the "old timers" could back me up on that, I'm merely a "thirty-something".

Brian McClure had a total of 10,280 total passing yds for his career. I'm proud to say I saw his 1st game (at least I'm pretty sure it was his fisrt) at CMU.
He came into the game as a backup and threw a pass about 70 yds in the air to a streaking WR that we just looked at with open mouths... my reaction at the time, " who is THIS guy?"
Until fairly recently, with the ball being thrown so much more now, spread offenses etc. , his yardage total ranked in the top 10 of all time in NCAA.... prabably has dropped by now. 8)

Was McClure a pure pocket passer? Pure pocket passers often have total yardages lower than their passing total as they are getting sacked and taking all those negative rushing yards.

Honestly, I wasn't around to see him play so I don't know. But if he was not a real rushing threat it is quite conceivable that his total offensive yardage would be 500 yards lower than his total passing.

Hambb,
Brian McClure was indeed a "pure" pocket passer, unlike the kids we see now...but even though he was 6'6", he was not immobile...he scrambled fairly well for a big guy...He and Kosar came out the same year, if I recall correctly and well to schools in NE O. only about 25 mi. apart.
I thought I saw the end of his career one nite vs. of all team, UT...He was blind sided as he released the ball and couldn't lift his right arm. Came back the next week and played so it must've been a stinger or similar...
He's still the best PURE QB I've ever seen at BG...and, let's face it, I've seen more than a few. 8)

Class of 61 wrote:Brian McClure had a total of 10,280 total passing yds for his career. I'm proud to say I saw his 1st game (at least I'm pretty sure it was his fisrt) at CMU.
He came into the game as a backup and threw a pass about 70 yds in the air to a streaking WR that we just looked at with open mouths... my reaction at the time, " who is THIS guy?"
Until fairly recently, with the ball being thrown so much more now, spread offenses etc. , his yardage total ranked in the top 10 of all time in NCAA.... prabably has dropped by now. 8)

Heck, I think he was actually top 5, behind a couple of BYU guys and maybe one or two others.

Noboby ran offenses back when McClure played like they do now so that is why he was so special...to bad the Clowns thought that turd QB from USC was so much better or he might have made a good pro.

I actually say him play his final game in high school. They lost to Otsego sending the Knights to the Ohio State Championship Game which they lost to some fat one man show.

Let's not knock Paul McDonald. He did an excellent job of stepping up when Brian Sipe left. Oops. Thought I lost it for a moment. Paul McDonald sucked. He was atrocious. He couldn't even get a job as spokesmand for BoRics when he played in Cleveland. Now, that's bad.

I'm lucky to say that I went to school during the McClure era, covering the football team during that incredible 1985 season. McClure was on track to break the NCAA record for total yardage, chasing some guy named Flutie. Yep, in historical context, his numbers are astonishing.

He didn't have the advantage of working out of the spread. Geez, when Stolz pulled out the three receiver/single back sets (WR: Meehan, Boxley, Hunter; TE: G. Bayless, TB: White) it was about the same as introducing instant replay. McClure had tremendous poise in the pocket and could alternate seamlessly from a touch pass to a laser beam.

He was injured in the Miami game that season - does anyone recall the incredible comeback engineered by his backup, Rick Neiman, made possible by one "Dirty" Rick Howard recovering an onside kick? - and ultimately fell short of the NCAA mark. Nonetheless, he was part of an incredible team and was undoubtedly the cog that made the offense go.

<----- Look, I'm almost a fledgling!

[END BLATANT POST PAD]

1987alum wrote:I'm lucky to say that I went to school during the McClure era, covering the football team during that incredible 1985 season. McClure was on track to break the NCAA record for total yardage, chasing some guy named Flutie. Yep, in historical context, his numbers are astonishing.

He didn't have the advantage of working out of the spread. Geez, when Stolz pulled out the three receiver/single back sets (WR: Meehan, Boxley, Hunter; TE: G. Bayless, TB: White) it was about the same as introducing instant replay. McClure had tremendous poise in the pocket and could alternate seamlessly from a touch pass to a laser beam.

He was injured in the Miami game that season - does anyone recall the incredible comeback engineered by his backup, Rick Neiman, made possible by one "Dirty" Rick Howard recovering an onside kick? - and ultimately fell short of the NCAA mark. Nonetheless, he was part of an incredible team and was undoubtedly the cog that made the offense go.

I remember that Miami game well. We left the stadium with a few minutes to go thinking it was over only to hear thunderous cheers as we headed back to the dorm. Guess that taught us to leave early.

Warthog:

I can still see Neiman scooting into the end zone on that naked bootleg. I'll give Stolz this, he had some brass ones because I can't think of another coach who would give a guy who hadn't taken a snap in ... um, maybe ever, and let him run that play with the game (and ultimately, the season) on the line.

You know, I remember the discussion in the press box when McClure went down. A lot of people figured BG was done and we'd lose. The conventional thinking was, no big deal, Miami will lose a few down the road and we'll still win the MAC. As it turns out, Miami ran the table after that game, which actually left BG with no room for error. Neiman ended up being the key to an undefeated season that would have otherwise been lost to obscurity!

Count me amongst those that left that game early. McCLure was a heck of a QB, conditioning was a problem for him getting to the next level. I played some bball with him at the rec center a few times. He got winded awfully quick and didn't seem to have much upper body strength. I think he didn't even do one rep at the scouting combine (benching 225). It's tough to impress the scouts when you don't look the part (unfair as it seems)

He was something else on the field though...

Redwingtom wrote:Noboby ran offenses back when McClure played like they do now so that is why he was so special...to bad the Clowns thought that turd QB from USC was so much better or he might have made a good pro.

I'm sad to report that people still remember McClure's name in Western New York.

At first I was thrilled. "You remember Brian McClure?" I'd ask.

Apparently, the only NFL game he played in was a 1987 scab game on Monday Night Football.

It wasn't a good day for Brian. He went 20 for 38 -- but he was also picked three times.

http://www.jt-sw.com/football/pro/playe ... D/06810988

I guess his lackluster performance remains legendary among Bills fans. He's not in Scott Norwood's league, but you see what I'm getting at.

After a while, I stopped bringing him up. People tended to smirk when I said he was probably the best quarterback ever to play at Bowling Green.

1987alum wrote:He was injured in the Miami game that season - does anyone recall the incredible comeback engineered by his backup, Rick Neiman, made possible by one "Dirty" Rick Howard recovering an onside kick? - and ultimately fell short of the NCAA mark. Nonetheless, he was part of an incredible team and was undoubtedly the cog that made the offense go.

I was there that day. It remains, to those day, the most thrilling sporting event I ever experienced in person. I had a perfect line when Nieman turned to the right, saw the entire side of the field opened, and realized that nearly anyone in the stands could have run it in from there. It was awesome....absolutely a major thrill (my senior year).