As a quarterback, Perry Patterson is trained to make quick decisions. He’ll take his drop, go through his reads, and ultimately make a choice. It could be the right one. It could be the wrong one. This season, it’s been mostly the former.

The point is, he doesn’t have long. It’s a rapid-fire multiple choice. But Patterson’s quick decision-making isn’t limited to the 100-by-53 1/3-yard rectangle that becomes his place of work every Saturday. It happens on Wednesdays and post-game Saturdays, too, when Patterson walks into a room and a handful of media members stop in mid-conversation and hustle over for position in front of him.

They ask questions seemingly straight from a manual, stock questions about wanting to win and being nervous, the type of questions the pesky reporter always utters when depicted in a movie. And Patterson’s answers aren’t especially interesting, nor are they entirely original. They’re to be expected from a quarterback, though, a position groomed to give the right 10-word answer about trying hard and trusting teammates and giving 100 percent, one game at a time.

He makes his quick decision in those situations, subconsciously deciding which answer works when. Care to ask a follow-up, and he’ll rethink, go through his progressions and, akin to deciding to go to the drop-off on third-and-long, he’ll bust out another response from the Guide for Quarterbacks Handling the Media.

But ask him something that requires a deviation from normalcy, whether it’s a follow-up about a specific offensive trend or his five favorite football movies, and Patterson will leave the robotic persona, if only for a few seconds.

‘I really don’t know how to answer that,’ he’ll admit.

That right there, that split second where he drops his shield, is indicative of how far Patterson has come. He’s been profiled and scrutinized in his three seasons as the Orange’s starting quarterback and has defied criticism and questions about his job security to finally become a serviceable quarterback – and leader – for the Orange in 2006.

The compelling part is that the way he deals with the media and the way he plays quarterback have been strikingly similar, an interesting case study about the evolution of a quarterback who’s learned how to be a quarterback – within the lines and beyond them.

Because at a position that by definition is the centerpiece of a team, the spokesman of the players, Patterson has learned on the job.

‘It’s all about me maturing as a quarterback,’ Patterson said. ‘It’s just the nature of the position; all eyes are going to be on you when you lose or when you win. It comes with the territory. I like playing the QB position, so I know it comes with it. I don’t get tired of it. I just expect it.’

But when he first became a starter in 2004, the focus wasn’t entirely on Patterson. SU featured star running back Walter Reyes, who was the headliner on the team, and freshman quarterback Joe Fields, who was the heralded prospect.

Patterson took over for the freshman four games into the season and helped lead the Orange to a share of the Big East championship and the Champs Sports Bowl. But it wasn’t because of him. He threw seven touchdowns to 10 interceptions and was mostly uninspiring. New athletic director Daryl Gross fired head coach Paul Pasqualoni and most of his staff wasn’t retained.

In came current head coach Greg Robinson, who hired Brian Pariani from the NFL as his offensive coordinator and Major Applewhite, who was a graduate assistant at Texas, as his quarterback coach. It was Pariani’s first time as an offensive coordinator and Applewhite’s first time as a quarterback coach.

It was a disaster.

The Orange lost 10 games and the offense was inept. Patterson threw six touchdowns to 11 interceptions and completed less than half his passes. Fields started in Patterson’s place for two games, although Patterson saw action. He was discouraged and still learning the responsibilities of the position. When Patterson shunned the media after an embarrassing 27-6 loss to Connecticut on national television, he was publicly criticized.

But it changed this offseason.

Pariani and Applewhite both left at the end of last season. Brian White was hired as offensive coordinator after seven years as Wisconsin’s offensive coordinator. Phil Earley was hired as quarterback coach after 20 years on nine difference staffs.

‘They’re helping me with this process,’ Patterson said of White and Earley. ‘It’s something I didn’t have before. It’s an experience they bring and quarterbacks they’ve coached in the past.’

The new coaches put him to work. Patterson dropped 20 pounds and coaches repeatedly claimed that no player worked harder in the offseason than the senior quarterback.

‘If you give him something to work on, he’s going to get better at it,’ Earley said. ‘He lost a lot of weight, he looks better, and he’s just able to work at stuff to get better at. Whether it’s balance or rhythm in his throw or whatever it is.’

‘If I had coach Earley all along, I’d be way ahead of where I am right now,’ Patterson said. ‘Whenever you hear about great quarterbacks in college, they usually have great coaches to coach them. I never really had that. But now I got coach Earley, and he came at the right time in my career.’

The results are evident. He’s thrown nine touchdowns to just two interceptions and has effectively engineered the offense this year. Patterson has simply re-invented himself in his senior season. So much so, in fact, that thoughts of the NFL might not be so ill-conceived – or at least compared to the end of last season.

‘If he keeps working the way that he is working, there are going to be some people that come through here and they are going to ask some question that they didn’t even consider asking last spring,’ Robinson said, referencing NFL scouts.

Patterson’s first touchdown in Saturday’s game against West Virginia was an example of an NFL-caliber play. He used his 240-pound frame to withstand pressure and fight off blitzers. By buying time, his receivers found open space and he launched a 47-yard touchdown pass, on the road in a hostile environment, to give SU 7-0 lead.

And each week, Robinson insists that Patterson continues to improve – and he often offers this statement unprompted. It’s to show faith in a quarterback who for the first time in his career hasn’t had to look over his shoulder.

Robinson said during spring practice that Patterson was the quarterback. He even moved Fields to safety, leaving no experienced competition for the redshirt senior with two years’ experience.

‘He was going to be the guy and he knew it coming into season,’ Earley said. ‘That was big for him. Whenever someone doesn’t have to look at his shoulder, that makes him more comfortable. He’s a guy that will take the ball and run with it.’

But from more than just a football perspective, it was an important statement to the players, fans and media. This is the guy who will line up behind center for you. This is the player to root for. This is the representative to answer your questions after the game.

Patterson was going to become the leader; he didn’t have a choice. And it started with the way he worked. Receiver Lavar Lobdell was leaving the football complex around 9:30 p.m. one September night after staying to work on homework. He saw Patterson walking to his car, too. Patterson had just finished watching film.

‘Before you can lead, you need to lead by example,’ Earley said. ‘It’s a great intangible that people don’t even talk about much. No matter what you do, quarterback will be the leader whether he wants to or not.’

But he’s far from a finished product. Patterson made an obscene gesture at West Virginia fans on Saturday, one that was caught on tape and he apologized for. He admitted – and Robinson added – that it was uncharacteristic of the type of leadership he’s displayed.

‘Just by virtue of that position, the quarterback role has to direct in the huddle, at the line of scrimmage, during the play,’ Earley said. ‘When you have a guy who is willing to embrace that leadership role, you can get more out of that offense.’

And that leaves him here – the team is 3-4 with a difficult climb if it wants to reach a bowl. But SU doesn’t worry about the quarterback position, which is more than the Orange could say every year since 2002. Reporters don’t ask him questions about job security and he doesn’t have to feel embarrassed to talk after a game. Fans question his ability less than the past.

Because at last, Perry Patterson is the quarterback – a title that stretches far beyond the field.

Published on October 16, 2006 at 12:00 pm