Lewis will start against Bruins
By Daily Bruin Staff
Oct. 25, 2001 9:00 p.m.
 Courtesy of Stanford Media Relations Despite the loss of
Stanford’s starting QB Randy Fasani, UCLA must deal with backup
Chris Lewis.
By Hannah Gordon
Daily Bruin Reporter
As one of the top recruits in the nation and a star quarterback
at one of the most prestigious prep programs, sophomore Chris Lewis
could have started as a freshman at most colleges. But Lewis chose
to be a backup.
“I knew the kind of situation I was coming into,”
Lewis said of his position as Randy Fasani’s backup at
Stanford. “I came here to learn how to be a great
quarterback.”
As a senior at Long Beach Poly, Lewis was named the 1998
Gatorade National High School Football Player of the Year and a
consensus All-American. He holds the state record with 107 career
touchdown passes.
“He was playing some of the finest football in the
country,” Stanford head coach Tyrone Willingham said.
This weekend the Southern California native will have his fourth
career start, replacing the injured Fasani, when Stanford faces
UCLA Saturday. He may be a backup, but he is far from
inexperienced.
“He’s a veteran,” UCLA head coach Bob Toledo
said. “He played last year and he’s played this year. I
think Lewis is one of the up-and-coming star quarterbacks of this
conference.”
That potential was exhibited last weekend when Lewis came off
the bench to upset Oregon 49-42. After Fasani was injured in the
second quarter, Lewis completed only 3 of 10 passes in the
remainder of the second quarter. But in the second half, he
completed 9 of 16 for 161 yards and two touchdowns.
Saturday was not Lewis’ first big game off the bench. Last
year Lewis helped pull off a 27-24 upset of Texas, passing the
game-winning touchdown with 1:12 left in the game. Against USC,
Lewis engineered another comeback victory, throwing a touchdown on
the final play for a 32-30 victory.
Although Stanford lost to UCLA last year 37-35, Lewis scored two
touchdowns when he played against the Bruins in the second
half.
Having played against UCLA last year, Lewis said he feels more
relaxed starting. He also looks forward to seeing Long Beach Poly
teammates currently with UCLA ““ senior free safety Marques
Anderson and sophomore linebacker Dennis Link.
“I know guys on the team so it is more fun to play against
them,” Lewis said.
“I shook Chris’ hand when he came in, but I also got
a sack against him last year,” Anderson said with a
smile.
A player who hopes to sack Lewis this year is UCLA middle
linebacker Robert Thomas.
“Lewis has done a good job in college as far as coming in
the games when he has to and playing big-time ball,” Thomas
said. “But as far as starting a game, I think a lot more
pressure is going to be put on him. We’ll see what he’s
all about.”
