Georgia defense prepares for high-profile QB

Athens — He is one of just two players in the history of Division I-A college football to pass for 3,000 yards and run for 1,000 in the same season.

He is bigger than life on a 60-feet-tall, 30-feet-wide billboard in Detroit.

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Central Michigan University

Central Michigan quarterback Dan LeFevour poses in front of a billboard featuring his photo at Comerica Park in Detroit.

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And he will be playing in Sanford Stadium on Saturday.

So who is this guy?

Central Michigan quarterback Dan LeFevour — whom Georgia players and coaches are quick to compare this week to Heisman Trophy winner Tim Tebow of Florida — has evolved from a lightly recruited prospect to one of college football’s most intriguing offensive players.

“His stats are amazing,” Georgia safety Reshad Jones said.

“Really pretty staggering,” Georgia coach Mark Richt said.

“I say he’s Tebow Jr.,” Jones said.

Yes, LeFevour plays in the Mid-American Conference, which is not the SEC. Yes, his team plays a quarterback-centric spread offense, which LeFevour (pronounced luh-FEE-vuhr) admits inflates his statistics.

Still, his 2007 stats shout:

• He passed for 3,652 yards and ran for 1,122, joining Vince Young (Texas, 2005) as the only Division I-A players to pass for 3,000-plus and run for 1,000-plus in a single season.

• He accounted for 47 touchdowns — passing for 27, running for 19, receiving for one.

• He had games of five touchdown passes (Ball State), four touchdown runs (Army), 364 yards passing (Purdue), 170 yards rushing (Miami, Ohio) and 514 yards total offense (Akron).

“The productivity of this guy,” Richt said, “is unbelievable.”

Now, a cautionary — and modest — word about such numbing numbers:

“It’s just a product of the spread offense,” LeFevour said Wednesday in an e-mailed response to questions. “A lot of the offense goes through the quarterback, so I think some of those numbers appear more staggering than they actually are.

“It obviously takes 11 guys on the field doing their job, but the quarterback gets more credit than he probably deserves sometime.”

Central Michigan spent $50,000 to get LeFevour more credit.

That was the cost to rent the 30-by-60 billboard on the back of the scoreboard at Detroit’s Comerica Park, near the main entrance to Ford Field.

Some 150 miles from the Central Michigan campus in Mount Pleasant, fans arriving at Tigers or Lions games in Detroit get an eyeful of LeFevour.

A towering image of the quarterback, who is 6-feet-3, 229 pounds in real life, stands beside the words: “High Octane Offense. More Miles Per Game. Champions Come Standard at CMU.”

“Any school that’s gonna spend $50,000 on a billboard knows they have a true legitimate Heisman Trophy candidate,” said Richt, the Georgia coach, “and he is that.”

LeFevour, from the Chicago suburb of Downers Grove, said the attention “means that the program is doing great things. We have high expectations of what we want to accomplish… We’ve put the pressure on ourselves, and now it’s just up to us to perform.”

One goal, he said, is to become a top-25 program.

Central Michigan has won the Mid-American Conference championship in each of LeFevour’s two years as starting quarterback, but the Chippewas haven’t beaten a ranked opponent in 17 years. The last time they came to this part of the country, they lost to Clemson, 70-14, on Oct. 20, 2007.

But the No. 2-ranked Bulldogs seem genuinely respectful of LeFevour, a redshirt junior who has completed 64.7 percent of his collegiate passes and whom Rivals.com has called “the best non-BCS quarterback in the nation.”

“I’m ready to face a great quarterback,” said Jones, Georgia’s free safety. “I think I’ll be tested.”

“He’s a good player, but we are good, too,” defensive tackle Corvey Irvin said. “If we go out and prepare — and I’m sure they will, too — the best team will win.”

Early in the week, Richt said LeFevour reminds him of Missouri quarterback Chase Daniel, who finished fourth in the Heisman voting last year. By mid-week, Richt said he’d seen enough to persuade him that the Heisman winner — Tebow, Florida’s decorated run-pass dynamo — is a more apt comparison.

In fact, Richt said preparing for and playing against LeFevour could prove beneficial when it comes time to face Tebow.

LEFEVOUR VS. TEBOW

Comparing 2007 statistics of Central Michigan quarterback Dan LeFevour and Heisman Trophy winner Tim Tebow of Florida:

(Note: LeFevour played 14 games, Tebow 13.)