QB Leak has endured many ups and downs in UF career


SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. - Chris Leak has thrown for more yards than any other quarterback in University of Florida history.

But Jemalle Cornelius will always remember UF's senior quarterback for what he did with his legs.

A pair of runs - a 45-yarder against Alabama and an 8-yarder against South Carolina that kept a fourth-quarter touchdown drive alive - are the plays that will come to the senior receiver's mind whenever someone asks him about Chris Leak.

"A lot of people don't expect him to do stuff like that, pull the ball
down and run and get key first downs for us and make plays," Cornelius said. "When he does it, it's a big surprise to us all."

The school's record holder in passing yards (11,000), completions (870), attempts (1,422) and 200-yard games (32) is being remembered for 53 of his 130 career rushing yards? It's just another example of how strange Chris Leak's career at Florida has been.

He arrived as one of the best prep quarterbacks in history, won the starting job four games into his freshman season, went on to lead the SEC in passing, played for three offensive coordinators, has his leadership abilities questioned, shares playing time as a senior with a player who is a much better fit for UF's offense than he is and leads the Gators to an SEC title.

That's a lot to cram into four years, yet Leak persevered and has the Gators in the BCS national championship game.

"I respect Chris Leak as much as I respect any football player," UF coach Urban Meyer said. "He has been through - it has been well-documented - three coordinators, two coaching staffs, different styles of offense.

Chris Leak has been the one constant. The ego doesn't get in the way."

That last sentence pretty much sums up Chris Leak's personality. Though he arrived in Gainesville in 2003 with a national-record 185 touchdown passes under his belt at Independence High School in Charlotte, N.C., Leak didn't demand attention from the media. While freshman Justin Midgett was boasting that he was going to be the starter on opening day, Leak was secluding himself in the film room for hours.

Chris Leak didn't complain about sharing playing time with Ingle Martin and Gavin Dickey in the first three games of the 2003 season, and when Leak finally got his first start in the fourth game, he made it memorable.

He helped UF rally from a 21-3 fourth-quarter deficit to beat Kentucky 24-21 by throwing two touchdown passes and two two-point conversion passes. He's been Florida's starter ever since.

"I remember a hostile environment, a come-from-behind victory," Leak said.

"Your first start is always going to be one of those special times
in your career you'll never forget."

There are other things he won't forget, either:

A home loss to Mississippi the following week, then leading the Gators to a 19-7 upset of eventual national-champion LSU in Baton Rouge.

A late-game drive that lead to a game-winning field goal against
Georgia.

The embarrassing loss at Mississippi State in 2004, then coach Ron Zook's firing two days later.

Six touchdown passes against South Carolina.

The first victory against Florida State in Tallahassee since 1986 in Zook's final game as UF's coach.

Throwing for a career-low 107 yards against LSU and failing to get the offense in the end zone (the first time that had happened in 13 years) in a 31-3 loss at Alabama last season.

There are other highlights (leading the SEC in passing in 2004) and lowlights, too, especially Meyer's criticisms of Leak's leadership during spring practice and the 2005 season. Leak recalls every one of them.

"I can remember every snap I've taken as a Gator," he said. "I have every snap on film. . . . I am just happy to have had a great career here. I will be able to look back on my Gator career and be proud of it."

Especially his senior season, in which he led the Gators to
come-from-behind victories against Tennessee and Arkansas along the way to the school's first SEC title since 2000. The past four months are another testament to Leak's demeanor. How many senior quarterbacks that have started for nearly three full seasons would have handled being pulled for a freshman inside the red zone with as much grace as Leak has?

Not many.

"I've never had that mind-set [of getting all the playing time]," Leak said. "I've always had the mind-set of looking at how I can help my team win. That's always my mind-set, ever since I got here. I'm more concerned with giving everything I've got for these guys."

What he's given himself, in addition to passing records, is a chance to be only the second quarterback in school history with a national championship ring.

"Ever since he came in and stepped in as a freshman, he's showed up in big games," Cornelius said. "He comes to work every day and never complains.

"A guy like that, he deserves [it]."

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