Sports Watch
Guy knows quarterback controversies. He was involved with Mike Cordova two decades ago in one of the biggest QB flaps at the school noted for its quarterbacks and quarterback controversies.
It got so bad that some Stanford students climbed a Highway 80 exit sign for Cordova Road, scratched out "Cordova" and substituted the name, "Ben." Another student scaled Stanford Stadium's football scoreboard during a game and put up a sign, "87 percent and benched?"
The latter was a reference to Benjamin completing 87 percent of his passes and still not being good enough to start at quarterback for the Indians, then the school's nickname.
Benjamin smiled when his Palo Alto past was brought up. The subject of QB controversies was rekindled because it cropped up on "The Farm" between Chad Hutchinson, a promising redshirt freshman, and senior Tim Carey. And it hit closer to home for Benjamin, not only because he's a Stanford grad, but because Carey transferred to UH to play for him next year.
Benjamin didn't want to comment on the current Stanford controversy other than to say that he's glad that Carey's here. But Benjamin knew his situation - up close and personal - from his controversial years with Cordova.
Both were recruited the same year, Benjamin a Valley Guy from Los Angeles and Cordova from Washington state. Benjamin wasn't saying that the coach, Jack Christiansen, played favorites, but he knew his chances weren't too good after Cordova was given Jim Plunkett's number (16).
AN injury led to Benjamin being red-shirted in his first year. So when the following 1974 season started, Cordova ended up playing most of the time. Benjamin got a shot in the UCLA game, driving his team down the field and throwing a touchdown pass for the lead at halftime. "I didn't play the rest of the game and we lost," Benjamin recalled.
"In the last game of the season against Cal-Berkeley, we were down by two touchdowns. I started the second half and threw two or three touchdown passes and we ended up winning the game (22-20). It was one of the most exciting 'Big Games' in the rivalry, so traditionalists tell me."
Benjamin thought he had finally established himself as a viable candidate for the starting job in 1975 when he was a sophomore and Cordova a junior. But their coach had other ideas. Cordova was impressive in a
67-14 victory over a bad Army team and earned the starting job.
In a back-up role, Benjamin threw for three touchdowns in his first four completions against Washington State to get his fans up in arms again. "People were cheering and going crazy and he took me out of the game."
In the meantime, Cordova was getting booed and Benjamin wound up starting the final two games of the season.
"I finished strong again, I thought," Benjamin continued. "So I go into my junior year and I'm thinking, yeah, I established myself. Sure enough, he (Christiansen) starts Mike Cordova again.
"To make a long story short, I finally did beat him out. That was a situation where a coach wanted to play a guy, and quite honestly, I was better than the guy. I didn't feel I was appreciated. Quite frankly, my hopes and dreams of playing in the NFL were being controlled by one man."
In Benjamin's senior year, there was no quarterback controversy. Cordova was gone anyway.
Bill Walsh took over as Stanford's head coach and Benjamin, who was on the cover of Street & Smith's college football magazine that year (1977), led the nation in passing and was a consensus All-America pick.
"I was fortunate to have Bill Walsh as my coach. He really allowed me to develop the way I had hoped," said Benjamin.