KINGSVILLE - Last November, Abel Gonzalez closed his junior season at Texas A&M-Kingsville by throwing for 457 yards and four touchdowns against California Davis.
Though the Javelinas lost that opening-round game of the NCAA Division II playoffs, 37-32, Gonzalez was thrust into the spotlight, earning national player of the week honors.
And the talk began. Could he be in line to become the Javelinas' second winner of the Harlon Hill Trophy, the Division II equivalent of the Heisman?
Don't start buying tickets to the award ceremony just yet.
Gonzalez doesn't think about it. His coach, Richard Cundiff, doesn't like to discuss it and would rather it not come up in conversation. And in reality, there is a long road to hoe before anyone can think about putting Gonzalez's Harlon Hill Trophy next to the three consecutive awards copped by Johnny Bailey from 1987-89.
"I just see the three trophies at McCulley Hall. (The trophy) hadn't been here in so long it kind of seems impossible to reach," Gonzalez said. "It'd be nice to bring it down here, but whatever happens, happens."
Impressive numbers
That Gonzalez's name is being bandied about in this manner is, at least in the confines of South Texas, understandable. Going into his final year of eligibility, the 21-year-old Rio Grande City native owns nine school records, all set last season. Gonzalez was selected as the preseason player of the year in the Lone Star Conference South Division.
His record-setting numbers include 2,113 passing yards, 20 touchdown tosses, 155 completed passes, season total yards (2,716), total yards and passing yards in a game (457), passes completed in a game (27), total plays in a game (72) and total plays in a season (462).
"We knew we had a good team last fall. We knew if we put ourselves in a good position, we could put some good numbers up," said Gonzalez, 5-foot-10 and 180 pounds. "The other guys helped me put the numbers up and I helped them. We've got some good guys coming back and I think we can put some big numbers up this year."
Concerns of distraction
The path to the awards ceremony in Florence, Ala., is littered with pitfalls, the main one being the one about which Cundiff frets - the notoriety.
"Kids are kids. The more they read the more they might believe, and Abel's probably no different than everybody else," Cundiff said. "He knows the pressure's on himself to perform. I want him to think about that. The more he reads the magazines and the newspapers, you don't know how it affects the mind."
For his part, Gonzalez said talk of the award doesn't faze him one way or the other.
"People talk about it and bring it up. I don't bring it up," he said. "It's not something that's on my mind right now."
Roadblocks await
Even if the distractions are set aside, there are enough factors working against Gonzalez, most notably the 10 defenses he will face that are keenly aware of his exploits of a year ago.
Then there is the one thing Gonzalez cannot control - the play of the competition. And it is formidable.
Last year, Grand Valley (Mich.) State junior quarterback Curt Anes finished second to Valdosta (Ga.) State quarterback Dusty Bonner in the closest Harlon Hill voting on record, 209-201.
All Anes did was lead Division II in total offense (362.1 yards per game), TD passes (48) and passing efficiency (221.63).
Then there is C.W. Post's Ian Smart, who led the country in rushing yards per game (211.3) and his 33 rushing TDs topped the country. Another, Colorado Mines quarterback Nate Jackson, was fifth in the nation in total offense (302.55) with 30 TD passes.
Even in the LSC, Gonzalez has competition. Midwestern State junior Phillip Boggs was 11th in total offense (284 yards per game) and 18th in passing efficiency (145.65) and Central Oklahoma junior Dee Dee Carter led the country in receiving yards per game (133.55).
Meanwhile, Gonzalez was 16th in total offense (271.6) and 26th in passing efficiency (139.96).
Unlike the Heisman, which takes on a visible, nationwide and lucrative hype, nominations for the Harlon Hill are done by university sports information directors (SIDs). Around October, the midpoint of the season, those SIDs who feel they have a player worthy of nomination sends it on to Jeff Hodges, North Alabama's SID and Harlon Hill Award committee chairman.
There are around eight nominees per region and the list is pared to eight, who are placed on a national ballot where all 156 Division II SIDs cast their votes.
"There's not a whole lot of promotion that goes on at the Division II level, mainly because of the budget," longtime Javelinas SID Fred Nuesch said. "You just don't have the money to do it. It's not like the Division I level, where you can afford to put a full-sized picture on a billboard.
"When you don't have the money to do the mass-type thing, you try to do the unusual."
And Hodges has seen the unusual.
"The majority of them came from Fred Nuesch," Hodges said.
In promoting Bailey's run to a Harlon Hill, Nuesch once sent pieces of barbed wire with the notation that it was the only thing that could slow the Javs' running back. Another time he sent rulers with another note indicating how many of them would need to be laid end to end to equate Bailey's rushing totals.
Value to A&M-Kingsville
For now, Cundiff isn't thinking about anything but what Gonzalez means to the Javelinas. In particular, how the quarterback has become the team offensive leader. With linebacker Kiah Johnson gone, Gonzalez's leadership becomes of more import.
"It's how he takes over and how he controls things in a ballgame," Cundiff said. "The kids believe in Abel and they will follow him. I think that's a great characteristic as a human being, much less a quarterback."
And the quarterback knows that there is no chance - if at all - at a Harlon Hill Trophy if the Javs don't at least duplicate last year's performance.
"I'm going to have to be ahead of everybody else. I'm going to have to learn things quicker than everybody else, do all the little things, be ahead of the game a little bit," Gonzalez said. "With the group of guys around me, if I can put my team in the best position to win, we will."
That would be a trophy to covet.
Abel Gonzalez
AGE : 21
POSITION : Quarterback, Texas A&M-Kingsville
VITALS : 5-foot-10, 180 pounds
CLASS : Senior
2001 STATISTICS : 155-269-11, 2,113 yards, 20 TDs passing; 134 carries, 603 yards, 8 TDs rushing
CAREER STATS : 264-496-20, 3,614 yards, 31 TDs; 322 carries, 1,185 yards, 15 TDs
SCHOOL RECORDS : Season: passing yards (2,113); TD passes (20); completions (155), total yards (2,716), total plays (462). Game: Total and passing yards (457); completions (27), total plays (72)
