He’s a mature “dude,” which is one of his favorite words. There is plenty of extra information I didn’t use in my story on the former Northwest quarterback for tomorrow, so here are some of the nuggets that missed the cut:
- He has several nicknames at Oregon, but the one most intriguing to me was “The Golden Child.”
- He was a pretty good basketball player at Northwest, and basketball was his sport of choice until high school. Harper said he was approached by Oregon’s assistant basketball coaches about the possibility of joining the team late, and he said he spoke to Brad Underwood a few times as well when he was committed to Kansas State.
- Speaking of which, even after James Franklin left to go to Maryland, Harper still thought he was going to K-State. In other words, Franklin’s departure wasn’t the complete deal-breaker it was thought to be.
- Harper believes Oklahoma will cruise in the national championship. “I don’t think Florida can score with those guys,” he said. “I want Florida to win, but I think OU is scoring so much, and how fast they play? They’re so diverse. We’re supposed to be the fastest-paced team in the country, but they’re playing faster than us – under center, spreading you out, the three running backs they use…”
- He believes the difference between K-State’s 5-7 record and Kansas’ 7-5 record isn’t that big because a couple of playmakers can make the difference in two games. “That’s not that hard,” Harper said.
- Harper said he was first offered by K-State after his freshman year at Collegiate, which he attended before Northwest. Well, told he was going to be offered. Snyder was the coach, and the assistant coach making contact was Joe Bob Clements, who has been re-hired by Snyder this season.
- Playing college football hasn’t been a huge adjustment. “It’s real easy,” Harper said. “You just go out and play. Some people make it too complicated. Let the dudes make plays. Make reads and play… After you get accustomed, it’s not a big deal. You see guys like Chase Daniel and Sam Bradford, guys who make it look easy, and they got comfortable playing so it’s just like high school again. When you have great athletes around you, you just throw it to them. It’s the same thing now, just a little more complicated… Once you get to a point where you’re clicking, you make it look easy. The speed isn’t a big difference.”