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By W.H. STICKNEY JR.
Copyright 2005 Houston Chronicle
[size=-3]Carlos Javieer Sanchez/Chronicle [/size]
[size=-2]TSU QB Daniel Millus was on the first team of several California honor squads. [/size]
CATCH a glimpse of Daniel Millus, whether he's in street clothes or a Texas Southern football uniform, and his physique doesn't conjure images of John Wayne, Randolph Scott or any classic cinema cowboy.
Yet thoughts of life in Texas had a great deal to do with the freshman quarterback from Upland, Calif., accepting a scholarship to play football some 1,500 miles from home.
"The state of Texas, I mean, in high school, my nickname was 'Tex,' " Millus said Thursday. "I just love Texas. What a place to come and check out, you know? And play the sport that you love."
Likes those Cowboys
The nickname would seem to be a reach; his preference is for a different kind of gunslinger.
"I like the Dallas Cowboys," Millus said. "And you watch all these movies with the little towns and football, like Varsity Blues. You see how football is like the dominant sport in the whole town.
"That's what I love. I think that football should be on everyone's mind, even the people who just sit at home and do nothing. They should think about football. That's just how I was brought up by my dad.
"My dad (a former Marine who owns his own business) is like a football fanatic. He's a real big Cowboys fan, too. He played football in high school but injured himself. His dreams fell short."
Millus, 18, is the younger of two children. His sister is six years older and never attended college, Millus said. His mother is the only member of the family to graduate from college (Cal Polytechnic Institute).
That, too, was a factor in Millus' decision to attend TSU.
"Texas Southern was the only place to believe that I could come over here and play quarterback and help them out on the team," Millus said. "So I wanted to be the only one in my family to go to like a big-time college."
Straight shooter
Millus received three scholarship offers upon graduation from high school and chose TSU because of Dechon Burns, the Tigers' defensive line coach who recruited him.
"Coach Burns was just up front with me," Millus said. "He didn't want me to believe there was a starting job waiting for me when I got there or anything. He's the guy who told me I was going to have to work in the classroom and on the field, that it's not going to just get handed to you. And I liked that, you know. And the fact that it was an 0-11 team. I like starting from the bottom of the hill and climbing."
As a high school senior, Millus threw for 3,128 yards and 34 touchdowns and was a first-team selectee on several honor squads in California.
But Millus, 6-0 and 190 pounds, lacked the speed to make much of a dent in the offensive system of coach Steve Wilson early on. Sophomore Tino Edgecombe was the choice to start at quarterback.
Taking charge at QB
But through the first two games this year, Edgecombe and the Tigers had difficulty moving the football. Millus got his first start in the third game against Alabama A&M and engineered a 17-7 victory that ended a string of 16 consecutive defeats.
A week later, Millus passed for 295 yards and a touchdown as the Tigers rallied from a 33-0 deficit in a 46-28 loss to McNeese State.
Millus has yet to break the top 10 in the Southwestern Athletic Conference for quarterbacks in terms of passing yardage and total offense. But he's gained Wilson's favor.
Pocket passer
"They were just trying to find my place in the offense," Millus said. "I mean, they're used to a rushing type of quarterback which Tino is, quick on his feet.
"Me, my style is more of the pocket-passing type, so they were just trying to find a spot for me and see where I fit in on the field.
"I think coach was just trying to get his offense to work around how I play my football, instead of making me try to fit into his running game and sprint-out passing."
Millus might not be the fast gun that used to rule the West, but he's brought a strong, steady arm and maturity beyond his 18 years that have yielded poise, consistency and productivity to a TSU attack that averages 21.8 points and 265.7 yards per game.
http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/sports/3422239
Copyright 2005 Houston Chronicle
[size=-3]Carlos Javieer Sanchez/Chronicle [/size]
[size=-2]TSU QB Daniel Millus was on the first team of several California honor squads. [/size]
Yet thoughts of life in Texas had a great deal to do with the freshman quarterback from Upland, Calif., accepting a scholarship to play football some 1,500 miles from home.
"The state of Texas, I mean, in high school, my nickname was 'Tex,' " Millus said Thursday. "I just love Texas. What a place to come and check out, you know? And play the sport that you love."
Likes those Cowboys
The nickname would seem to be a reach; his preference is for a different kind of gunslinger.
"I like the Dallas Cowboys," Millus said. "And you watch all these movies with the little towns and football, like Varsity Blues. You see how football is like the dominant sport in the whole town.
"That's what I love. I think that football should be on everyone's mind, even the people who just sit at home and do nothing. They should think about football. That's just how I was brought up by my dad.
"My dad (a former Marine who owns his own business) is like a football fanatic. He's a real big Cowboys fan, too. He played football in high school but injured himself. His dreams fell short."
Millus, 18, is the younger of two children. His sister is six years older and never attended college, Millus said. His mother is the only member of the family to graduate from college (Cal Polytechnic Institute).
That, too, was a factor in Millus' decision to attend TSU.
"Texas Southern was the only place to believe that I could come over here and play quarterback and help them out on the team," Millus said. "So I wanted to be the only one in my family to go to like a big-time college."
Straight shooter
Millus received three scholarship offers upon graduation from high school and chose TSU because of Dechon Burns, the Tigers' defensive line coach who recruited him.
"Coach Burns was just up front with me," Millus said. "He didn't want me to believe there was a starting job waiting for me when I got there or anything. He's the guy who told me I was going to have to work in the classroom and on the field, that it's not going to just get handed to you. And I liked that, you know. And the fact that it was an 0-11 team. I like starting from the bottom of the hill and climbing."
As a high school senior, Millus threw for 3,128 yards and 34 touchdowns and was a first-team selectee on several honor squads in California.
But Millus, 6-0 and 190 pounds, lacked the speed to make much of a dent in the offensive system of coach Steve Wilson early on. Sophomore Tino Edgecombe was the choice to start at quarterback.
Taking charge at QB
But through the first two games this year, Edgecombe and the Tigers had difficulty moving the football. Millus got his first start in the third game against Alabama A&M and engineered a 17-7 victory that ended a string of 16 consecutive defeats.
A week later, Millus passed for 295 yards and a touchdown as the Tigers rallied from a 33-0 deficit in a 46-28 loss to McNeese State.
Millus has yet to break the top 10 in the Southwestern Athletic Conference for quarterbacks in terms of passing yardage and total offense. But he's gained Wilson's favor.
Pocket passer
"They were just trying to find my place in the offense," Millus said. "I mean, they're used to a rushing type of quarterback which Tino is, quick on his feet.
"Me, my style is more of the pocket-passing type, so they were just trying to find a spot for me and see where I fit in on the field.
"I think coach was just trying to get his offense to work around how I play my football, instead of making me try to fit into his running game and sprint-out passing."
Millus might not be the fast gun that used to rule the West, but he's brought a strong, steady arm and maturity beyond his 18 years that have yielded poise, consistency and productivity to a TSU attack that averages 21.8 points and 265.7 yards per game.
http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/sports/3422239
