2 Huskies' Task: Impersonate A Hawkeye -- Bjornson, Alozie Try To Play Like Rodgers

ANAHEIM, Calif. - Eric Bjornson and Eric Alozie are not expected to play in the Rose Bowl Jan. 1, but their contributions to the Husky cause may have considerable bearing on the outcome of the game against Iowa.

Bjornson and Alozie are the scout-team quarterbacks on the University of Washington football team. As such, they are impersonating as best they can Matt Rodgers, Iowa's All-Big Ten Conference quarterback, in daily practices at Golden West College.

For two weeks, they will try to complete passes and gain yards against a defense considered the best in the Pac-10 Conference and one of the best in the country.

The impersonators have little in common beyond their first names, state of origin and team status.

Bjornson is a freshman from Oakland whose Husky career, as they say, is ahead of him. Alozie is a fourth-year junior from San Bernardino who has gone from quarterback to wide receiver and back to quarterback, moves that did nothing to solidify his situation.

Of the two, Bjornson, 6 feet 5 and 210 pounds, seems to resemble more closely Iowa's Rodgers, 6-4, 205, whose forte is passing from a pocket. Alozie, 5-11, 190, is a gifted runner.

``If we were playing an option team, we probably wouldn't be using Bjornson,'' said John Thompson, graduate assistant coach who is responsible for the scout-team quarterbacks.

But Rodgers does run options, as Bjornson has discovered.

``I've been running this option and they don't have me pitching too often, so he must be a pretty good runner,'' said Bjornson, who has traveled with the Huskies this season as the team's No. 3 quarterback. However, he has played in no games to preserve a year of eligibility.

Statistically, Rodgers appears to be much more of a passing threat than Washington's starting quarterback, Mark Brunell, but not nearly as productive a runner as the Husky sophomore.

Rodgers, a junior from Walpole, Mass., has completed 62 percent of his passes for 2,032 yards and rushed for 52 yards. Brunell has completed 46 percent of his passes for 1,732 yards and rushed for 444 yards.

Bjornson and Alozie are not being asked to do things they've never done. But, said Thompson, some of Rodgers' tendencies are being blended into the scout-team plan.

``We want them to be themselves athletically,'' Thompson said, ``but if Rodgers drops back a certain way or opens up on the option a certain way, we try to incorporate that.''

Bjornson, a graduate of Bishop O'Dowd High in Oakland, described his first college season as ``enlightening.''

``I don't think anyone who comes here as a freshman is used to sitting on the bench,'' Bjornson said. ``It kind of put me in my place.''

While there, he arrived at some conclusions.

``I want to see the field,'' he said in describing how he wants to play. ``I want to be the starting quarterback before I'm out of here, whether it's for one year or two years. I want to establish myself and not just be a backup or role player.''

Alozie seems to have taken a philosophic attitude about his situation.

``You've got to look at everything in a positive light,'' he said. ``I can always say I'm farther down on the depth than I think I should be or that I'm not getting the playing time I think I deserve. But things happen, and you have to go with what the coaches' decisions are.''

Alozie spent two seasons as a quarterback before switching to wide receiver as a sophomore in 1989. He went back to quarterback last spring and never has said why.

``That's something I really don't want to comment on,'' he said.

Meanwhile, Bjornson and Alozie are sharing a common bond, of sorts, while seemingly going in different directions.

How well they resemble someone else is how their Rose Bowl contributions will be judged.