Beck banking on arm

N.C. State QB aims to be starter

RALEIGH -- In 2005, Harrison Beck was a freshman quarterback at Nebraska, learning Bill Callahan's version of the West Coast offense.

In 2006, after transferring to N.C. State, Beck went about learning Marc Trestman's version of the West Coast offense.

A year later, Beck is absorbing yet another offense. It's the one Wolfpack coach Tom O'Brien brought from Boston College, the one installed in the spring by offensive coordinator Dana Bible.

"You run the ball more in this offense," Beck said. "It's more of a get-the-ball-around and spread-it-to-everyone kind of offense. It's just different in philosophy.

"They've made things a little easier for us to digest. We're young -- 19- and 20-year-olds. They're trying to give us enough so that we can go out there and play, just react and not have to think that much."

The Pack will hold its first preseason scrimmage today, and O'Brien said his three quarterbacks -- Beck, Daniel Evans and Justin Burke -- will get an equal amount of snaps. O'Brien would like to settle on a starter as quickly as possible but also said, "You want to make the right decision, not a fast decision."

Evans is the returning starter and Burke, who starred at Lexington (Ky.) Catholic High, was recruited by O'Brien's staff at BC. But it is Beck, who sat out last year as a transfer, who appears to intrigue so many Wolfpack fans.

The sophomore has the big arm. He was a big recruiting target in 2004 at Countryside High in Clearwater, Fla. -- rated the No. 3 pro-style quarterback by one recruiting service -- and made an early commitment to Nebraska, turning down offers from Florida, Michigan, NCSU and others.

"I can throw a football, obviously," Beck said. "I can throw it all over the field."

But Beck, like Evans and Burke, is aware that O'Brien isn't looking for the strongest arm. O'Brien wants his quarterback to make wise decisions, the right throws.

"The quarterback has to manage the offense," Beck said. "That's what they want us to do and I'm just trying to do what I'm asked to do. But I'm not going to lie. I'm not a patient person. You've got to be patient, but sometimes I want to throw it and I want to throw it far."

Beck did that a few times in the Pack's Red-White spring game -- limber up and let it fly, 50 or 60 yards down field. He didn't connect on any of the long balls. In fact, he was 7-for-26 passing for 116 yards and had one throw picked off for a 100-yard interception return.

With the Pack's practices closed, it was the first time the fans or media had seen Beck, who has good size at 6 feet 2 and 213 pounds -- show off his arm and his tendency to gun and gamble on the long strike.

"I've got to learn to control that," Beck said. "But sometimes I feel like it's asking a baseball pitcher not to throw his fastball. He can throw it 99 miles an hour but can't do it. I've got to control that, but I'll be all right."

Beck believed he would thrive at Nebraska under Callahan, who coached in the NFL before taking the Nebraska job. But the Cornhuskers' offense, Beck said, was sophisticated, complex.

"We had 170 to 180 plays," he said. "I'd have four wristbands, on my belt, on my arms. I had to memorize it all for a game."

Beck appeared in two games late in 2005. He abruptly transferred early in preseason camp last August for personal reasons he still prefers not to explain.

"I just had to leave," he said.

Beck had played high school football for John Davis, the father of former Pack quarterback Jay Davis. He knew former State assistant coaches Todd Stroud and Pat Meyer.

"He's a great kid, has a big-time arm and loves to compete," John Davis said of Beck.

Beck also was sold on the fact that Trestman, State's offensive coordinator the past two years, had run the pass-oriented West Coast offense for Callahan with the Oakland Raiders.

"A true West Coast guy," Beck said. "Same terminology. You could watch the NFL Network, hear [Green Bay quarterback] Brett Favre call a play, go to your playbook and see it drawn up."

Trestman, like Callahan, had more than 150 plays in his playbook. But after last season, State coach Chuck Amato was fired. Soon, O'Brien's staff arrived.

"You didn't know what to expect," Beck said. "But I like our coaches a lot. It will be a lot better for me."