BUFFALO BITS 2004 SCHEDULE - Collegefootballdatadvds.com

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JOEL KLATT, QB
6-1, 200, Jr., 2L
Arvada, Colo. (Pomona)
AT COLORADO: This Season (Jr.)—CU’s starting quarterback, who
is now on full scholarship after being a walk-on for his first two seasons
on the team. He continued to develop in the CU offense during
the spring and should be one of the nation’s top quarterbacks; Street
& Smith’s selected him as an honorable mention preseason All-
American. He enters his junior year ranked 10th in passing yards
(2,614), is eighth in completions (233), is 13th in attempts (359), is
seventh in touchdown passes (21), is third in efficiency rating
(140.0) and is 23rd in total offense (2,523).
2003 (Soph.)—In earning honorable mention all-Big 12 honors from
the league coaches, he set 19 school records and tied one more in
being named the newcomer of the year in the state by the Colorado
Chapter of the National Football Foundation and College Football
Hall of Fame. He was the John Mack Award winner for CU’s outstanding
offensive player as selected by the coaches, won the Best
Interview Award as selected by the school’s beat media, and was
CU’s offensive back of the week for four games (CSU, UCLA, Kansas
and Iowa State). For the year, he completed 233-of-358 passes for
2,614 yards and 21 touchdowns, setting school marks for attempts
and completions while throwing the second most TD passes in a
single year in becoming the third Buff to throw for over 2,500 yards
in a season. His 65.1 completion percentage set school records for
every 50 pass increment over 100 attempts, and he was consistent
across the board, completing 65.4 percent on first down, 66.1 on
second down and 63.5 on third and fourth down (48 of 66 third and
fourth down completions earned first downs). He had 426 total
plays, also a school record, for 2,523 yards, the sixth most in school
annals. He earned 128 first downs (11 rush, 117 pass) as he led the
Buffs to 41 scores in 122 drives he engineered. He threw for 200 or
more yards six times and completed over 52.0 percent of his passes
in all but one game (Baylor, when he was 3-of-8, also the lone game
he did not have at least one touchdown pass). He scored one touchdown
rushing (against Kansas), as he rushed 39 times for 97 yards
when not accounting for sacks. He enjoyed perhaps one of the best
debuts as a starting quarterback in Colorado history, if not NCAA
history in CU’s 42-35 win over Colorado State in Denver. He completed
21-of-34 passes for 402 yards and four touchdowns (and no
interceptions), in posting a single-game quarterback rating of 199.9,
the second best rating in CU history for a game with 30 or more
attempts. The 402 yards passing tied for the sixth most in a single
game in school history at the time (he topped it with 419 against
Kansas), and were the third most in a starting debut, bested only by
Koy Detmer’s 418 against Oklahoma and Kordell Stewart’s 409
against Colorado State—both coming in 1992. It was also the first
300-yard passing game by a Buff quarterback since 2001 and the first
400-yard effort since Mike Moschetti set the school record with 465
against San Jose State in 1999, with his four touchdown passes marking
just the ninth time in school annals that many had been thrown
in a single game. He also led the Buffs to a pair of touchdowns in the
two-minute drill: he tossed a 45-yard scoring strike to John Donahoe
with 29 seconds left in the first half, and then engineered a 6-play,
75-yard drive that led to the winning score with 0:40 left in the game.
He garnered all kinds of honors for his effort against the Rams, as
The Sporting News, SI.com and collegefootballnews.com cited him as
the National Player of the Week with the Big 12 Conference naming
him its Offensive Player of the Week. Prior to suffering a shoulder
injury against Washington State, he put together a streak of 92 consecutive
passes without an interception—the sixth longest in school
history—with the skein snapped on his first throw in his next game,
in the fourth quarter at Baylor in an attempt to rally CU to victory.
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After missing two starts (Florida State, Baylor) with a sprained
shoulder, he returned with a vengeance in throwing for 419 yards
over Kansas. In setting CU single-game records for attempts (54) and
completions (38), he led the Buffs to a third game winning or tying
drive in the fourth quarter, completing 4-of-6 passes for 56 yards and
ran for six more on CU’s 11-play, 89-yard drive that led to Mason
Crosby’s 23-yard field goal. His two 400-plus yard games represent
the fourth and fifth most passing yards in a game by a walk-on (or
former walk-on) in NCAA Division I history. Against No. 1 Oklahoma,
he completed 24-of-33 passes for 187 yards and three touchdowns,
with his 72.7 completion percentage the fifth best in school history
in a game where a QB attempted 30 or more passes. He had entered
the fall slightly ahead in the battle to be the starting quarterback,
and the coaches named him such just after the midway point of
camp. He had a good spring running CU’s offense, and was really
adept at limiting mistakes (he threw just one interception and didn’t
take a sack in the three main spring scrimmages).
2002 (Fr.)—He played in three games, against Baylor late in some
mop-up duty at quarterback, and in two others (Missouri, Iowa
State) on the punt return team as a rusher/blocker. He threw three
passes against the Bears, all falling incomplete. He was one of 11
“recruited” walk-ons that joined the team for August camp; he
became one of three true freshmen walk-ons to play in 2002, but they
are in a group of only four who have done so dating back to 1986.
He was the Scout Team Offense Award winner for the Colorado
State game.
PROFESSIONAL BASEBALL—He played two seasons of minor
league baseball, and was in spring training in 2001 and 2002 with the
San Diego Padres. He was selected as a third baseman by the Padres
with their 11th round pick of the 2000 amateur baseball draft, and
joined Class A Peoria that summer, where he led the team in doubles
with 12, as he batted .209 with one home run and 15 runs batted in.
He was with Idaho Falls in 2001 (2 HR, 10 RBI, 3 SB) and would have
been on the Eugene roster in 2002 had he stayed with baseball. He
reported to spring training, but told himself that if he didn’t land on
the Fort Wayne team (high A-ball) and would have to remain in
Arizona for extended spring training, he would give college football
a try.
HIGH SCHOOL—He was a two-time, first-team all-Jefferson County
performer at quarterback, earning second-team all-state honors as a
senior. As a senior, he completed 78-of-125 passes (62.4%) for 1,250
yards and 16 touchdowns. On defense as a junior, he had four
interceptions playing in the secondary. Pomona was 5-5 his senior
year and 10-3 his junior year, winning the Jefferson County league
championship, under coach Gary Klatt (his father). He also lettered
three times in basketball (guard), earning second-team allconference
honors as a senior. In baseball, as primarily a shortstop,
he earned first-team all-state and all-conference honors as a senior,
helping PHS to a runner-up finish in the state tournament. He set
several school records, including ones for home runs (10), runs
batted in (46), slugging percentage (1.126) and hits (52). He also set
three summer school records, in homers (26), RBI’s (99) and in
slugging (1.147).
ACADEMICS—He is majoring in economics at Colorado.
PERSONAL—He was born February 4, 1982 in Arvada, Colo. Hobbies
include playing golf and being an avid Boston Red Sox fan. An older
brother (Jason) played collegiate and minor league baseball.
PASSING RUSHING
Season G Att-Com-Int Pct. Yds TD Long Att Yds Avg. TD Long
2002 3 3- 0- 0 0.0 0 0 0 0 0 0.0 0 0
2003 11 358-233-10 65.1 2614 21 82t 68 -91 - 1.3 1 13
Totals 14 361-233-10 64.5 2614 21 82t 68 -91 - 1.3 1 13
ADDITIONAL STATISTICS—NCAA Rating: 140.2 (2003). Sacked/Yards Lost: 29/188
(2003).