Tom Archdeacon: Lightly recruited UD quarterback proving his worth

How do you best describe what’s been happening with University of Dayton quarterback, Alex Jeske?

You could reference the Hans Christian Andersen fairy tale about the ugly duckling who turns into a swan. Or maybe pull out a Bible verse — Matthew 19:30 — about “the last who shall be first and the first who will be last.”

But I’ll go with the old R&B singer Bo Diddley, who had a hit in the early 1960s:

“You Can’t Judge A Book By Its Cover.”

Yet, with Jeske, it seems as though everybody sure did.

There was the University of Illinois, from which both of his parents graduated and whose teams he grew up following. Like other Division I schools, the Illini showed no interest in him. And there were the Ivy League schools who once recruited him when he was playing at Glenbard South High School in Chicago‘s western suburbs, but then, in his words, “fell off at the end.”

And there were the Dayton Flyers, who initially passed on him, too.

“He was on our list (of high school quarterbacks), but he was not at the top of the list because of his athleticism and quarterbacking skills,” admitted Flyers coach Rick Chamberlin. “We had some other players ahead of him. It had to do with his physicality. He was a skinny kid about 180 pounds and his arm was average.

“We’d seen him at the Northwestern (University) camp the summer before his senior year, but we didn’t make him an offer right away. But then we had some other quarterbacks fall though, so we went down the list to Alex and thought ‘he’s a good kid, let’s bring him in.’ ”

Even so, the invitation still was a bit lukewarm.

As a freshman last season, Jeske was redshirted, which meant he practiced all week, got to a wear a uniform and pads on the sidelines for home games, but never got to play. Away games, he stayed back on campus and listened to a live stream broadcast.

When the Flyers finished drills this past spring, Jeske was considered the third-string quarterback behind redshirt senior Luke Johnson and redshirt sophomore Blake Bir. By the time the season started last month, he still was behind Bir.

But the book with a backup quarterback on the cover read differently inside.

That’s where you found the heart and grit and leadership ability.

“He was the quarterback in a good high school program, the point guard on the basketball team and he had had several leadership positions within the school, too,” Chamberlin said. “The more you know of him, the more you see a demeanor you really like. He doesn’t puff out his chest, but he has a quiet confidence about what he can do.”

And a fierce inner competitiveness, too, the coach said: “He plays quite a lot of basketball with some of our young assistants and they tell me it gets pretty heated out there on the court.”

Chamberlin said he also liked what he saw when he walked through the weight room in the off-season: “Toward the end of winter conditioning, you could tell there was a real difference about him. He was more muscular. And his weight is now up around 205.”

The Flyers opened the season at Robert Morris, but Bir struggled early and with just a few minutes left in the half, UD trailed, 10-0.

That’s when Eric Evans, the Flyers offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach, approached Jeske and told him he was going into the game.

“I felt a combination of nerves and excitement — this would be the first time I played college football — but my teammates came up and said, ‘We believe in you Alex. We’ve seen what you can do on the field,’” Jeske said.

“That definitely helped — knowing they had my back and we’re all in this together.”

He said he wasn’t worried that he couldn’t handle the moment: “The coaches had prepared me. I was ready.”

He entered with 3:05 left in the half and promptly completed his first three passes.

Although Chamberlin said they originally had planned to sit Bir for just a couple of possessions so he could get settled, Jeske played so well that he was kept in the game.

In the third quarter, the Flyers scored 17 straight points, taking the lead on Jeske’s 27-yard touchdown pass to Cory Stuart. Robert Morris went back ahead 24-17 in the fourth quarter, but then Jeske brought the Flyers back again. His 13-yard TD run tied the score and set the stage for William Will’s game-winning, 37-yard field goal.

Jeske finished with 162 yards passing, 41 yards rushing and had two TDs.

“After that we felt Alex had earned an opportunity to start the next game,” Chamberlin said.

That was against Duquesne and with Jeske throwing for 206 yards, the Flyers again came from behind to win. They did the same against Kennesaw State when he passed for another score and then last Saturday at Stetson, he threw for 223 yards and three touchdowns in a 27-24 win.

The Flyers are 4-0 for the first time since 2007 and today host San Diego (1 p.m.) at Welcome Stadium in a showdown of Pioneer Football League heavyweights.

San Diego (2-0 in the league, 3-1 overall) was the preseason pick to win the PFL and UD was the second choice. In 23 years of PFL play, UD has claimed 11 league crowns and San Diego six.

Last year in San Diego, UD topped the Toreros, 45-38, in two overtimes. The year before in Dayton, San Diego came from behind late to dump the Flyers, 40-29.

While Chamberlin knows this will be the Flyers stiffest test to date, he likes what he’s seen in his team this year:

“What I like is that they don’t get flustered. They adjust well and don’t panic no matter what the score or situation. It kind of resembles the way the way Alex Jeske is.”

And that brings us to one another famous Bo Diddley song:

“Who Do You Love?”

Around UD football that answer is now pretty clear.

“Is Alex making all the right decisions all the time? No, but he’s one of those guys who has that quality where he gets things done,” Chamberlin smiled. “He has that quiet confidence.

“Maybe he’s not doing it with extravagant skills — either running the ball or throwing it — but he somehow finds a way to get it done. He has that quiet confidence. He’s a winner. And he’s helped make us winners.

“That’s what we love about him.”

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