A sold-out stadium. A national television audience. Playing the defending Big Ten co-champion. Is that too much pressure to place on a freshman quarterback making his college debut in his hometown area, even one as talented as the University of Cincinnati's Gino Guidugli?

GUIDUGLI PROFILE

Aug. 19 story

        Perhaps it is. But UC coach Rick Minter said those concerns won't influence him when he decides on a quarterback for the Sept.2 Purdue game. If Guidugli earns the right to start, he will, regardless of the circumstances.

        “Gino's played in big games before,” Minter said. “If he earns the job, he deserves to take it.”

        A few hours after UC announced Wednesday that the Purdue game was a sellout, Guidugli played as if he were determined to be the UC starter. If Minter were basing his decision on the first half of the scrimmage at Nippert Stadium, he would have a tough time convincing anyone Guidugli doesn't deserve to start.

        During that half, the Highlands High School product completed eight of 10 passes for 131 yards, including a 62-yard touchdown pass to LaDaris Vann. He looked more like a raw freshman in the second half, when he failed to complete a pass in five attempts.

        “I thought I played pretty good,” Guidugli said, “but I have to go out and work my tail off the next couple of days just in case something happens and I might have to go in the Purdue game.”

        Guidugli began the afternoon essentially in a two-man battle for the starting job with junior John Leonard, a transfer from Arizona State. Senior Adam Hoover still has an outside shot at the job.

        Leonard, who impressed the coaching staff at Saturday's scrimmage, was not nearly so sharp this time. He was 3-of-8 for 19 yards with three interceptions.

        “Our No.1 concern is who can protect the ball and give our team the best chance to win,” Minter said. “You can read into that. That does not bode well. But we'll have to see the tape and see what caused the picks. Sometimes it's not the quarterback.”

        Said Leonard: “There were a couple of missed opportunities, a couple of times when I probably could have put a better ball in there.”

        The Bearcats will scrimmage once more Saturday. Minter said he would prefer to settle on a starter by Monday or Tuesday but did not rule out the possibility of using both Guidugli and Leonard against Purdue.

        Guidugli has gone out of his way to play the role of humble freshman, praising his teammates and talking about how much room he has for improvement. But you don't have to push him too far to know he'd love to begin his college career as the starting quarterback on national TV before a sellout home crowd.

        “That was my goal, to start the first game,” Guidugli said. “That's what I came here working hard to do. I'm going to try to go out and try the next couple of days to win the spot.”

        BROADCAST DEBUT: Former Ohio State coach John Cooper will make his debut with ESPN2 as color analyst for the network's coverage of the UC-Purdue game.

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