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"That Made It Impossible." If there is a way, short of absolute mayhem, to defend against Staubach, nobody has found it yet. After four games, he leads the nation both in passing (55 of 77, for 742 yds. and four touchdowns) and total offense (1,024 yds. gained). Before the season opener, West Virginia Coach Gene Corum calculated that his bulky linemen were too slow to catch Staubach. So Corum split his defensive ends to keep Roger bottled up, moved his linebackers into the line. "We contained his running all right," says Corum sourly. "But of course that made it impossible to stop his passing." Calmly sidestepping the puffing Mountaineers, Roger threw 22 passes and completed 17 for 171 yds. Score: Navy 51, West Virginia 7. "When I scheduled Navy," sighed West Virginia Athletic Director Red Brown, "a fellow named Roger Staubach was a freshman in high school."
The next game was more of the same, only better. William and Mary tried to go both ways on defense; drop back to cover Staubach's pass receivers, blitz the linebackers to nip his running in the bud. Another mistake. Roger played greased pig all afternoon. Once, seemingly pinned behind the line of scrimmage, he abruptly reversed his field and rambled for 25 yds. Said William and Mary Coach Milt Brewer: "Instead of pursuing and trying to catch him, we should have just waited and eventually he'd come back to us." In all, Roger passed and ran for 297 yds. —a new Naval Academy record—and the Middies won 28-0.
The record lasted one week. Against Michigan, Roger was not only spectacular, he was incredible. In the second quarter tackled for what looked like a 20-yd. loss, he arched as he fell and fired a strike to Fullback Pat Donnelly for a one-yard gain. Said Michigan Assistant Coach Jocko Nelson: "The way he plays, you've got to cover the ushers and the people in the stands. The only way to beat him would be to let the air out of the football." With the ball on the Navy 46 and 13 sec. left in the half, Roger hollered over to Coach Wayne Hardin: "O.K. to go?" Hardin nodded. Roger scampered around, giving his receivers time to get downfield, then he sailed the ball 34 yds. zip through a Michigan defender's arms and straight into the hands of Halfback John Sai. Sai jogged untouched into the end zone. Roger's score for the day: 14 of 16 passes for 237 yds., plus 70 yds. rushing—another Navy record. Final score: Navy 26, Michigan 13.
Up to Him. Staubach's performance so far this season is more than a tribute to his own splendid talents: it shows how completely today's top college quarterbacks dominate the teams they play for. In the old tight-T and split-T formations, the quarterback was responsible for maintaining the oompah-oompah rhythm of a ground attack—and the coach often ran the team from the bench. But today's quarterback is a thief with ten accomplices. He bosses the huddle, decides the play, totes the ball. What he does is up to him. The best decision makers: