College Football 2011: Derek Carr Is Ready to Lead the Fresno State Bulldogs

The Fresno State Football team is ready to pull its new "Carr" off the showroom floor and hit the road.

Fans have been patiently waiting for Derek Carr to become the Bulldogs' starting quarterback for two years, and that time has finally come!

The car puns have and will be coming fast and furious, but is Carr tired of the media going "puntastic" with his name?

"I mean honestly, it's a blessing to even be talked about in that kind of sense," Carr said. "Just them saying my last name is really cool."

There has been plenty of hype since Carr landed at Fresno State. Derek, the younger brother of former Fresno State standout David Carr, has to know he has a lot to live up to; David compiled 7,849 yards and 70 touchdowns as a two-year starter and was the No. 1 overall pick in the 2001 NFL draft.

When asked if he felt he had to step out of David's shadow, Derek seemed to embrace the fact that he could be in the shadow of his big brother.

"My whole life I've been called 'David,'" Derek said. "He's my hero. It's kind of cool having your big brother as your hero."

With no disrespect to Ryan Colburn (the Bulldogs' starting quarterback for the past two seasons), it's safe to say that a lot of fans have been looking ahead to Derek. A lot of that is due to the fact that head coach Pat Hill dangled the possibility that he would start as a freshman.

During the 2009 preseason, Hill did not name a starting quarterback right away and made it an open competition between Colburn, Derek and Ebahn Feathers (who is no longer with the team). We all know how it ended up, and whether or not it was the right move, Derek is the starter now, and a new era has begun.

Derek has no doubt he could have handled being the starter as a freshman, but he admits waiting two years might have been the best thing for him and the program.

"Of course I wish it would have turned out a different way," he said. "I look back on it now, and two years have gone by, I have gained 20 pounds, I have dropped my 40 time down tremendously, I'm throwing the ball harder and I know what I'm doing now. I think it's better for Fresno State fans that I actually sat out for those two years."

With that being said, Derek still thinks he would have been able to handle it.

"I still feel at that time I could have got the job done at a high level," said Carr.

With a new era come old rivalries. Boise State is no longer a conference rival, but is a rival nonetheless. Aside from obvious reasons, Carr has added incentive to beat the hated Broncos. His brother hung a Boise State flag in his room and said he couldn't take it down until he beats them.

"It's kind of been bugging me that I have to stare at blue every night," Derek said.

No. 4 is chomping at the bit to get to the Broncos.

"I can't wait for them to walk down this ramp," Derek said.

All signs point to this young man being something special. The fact that he was competing for the starting job as a freshman is testament to that. Hill (for the most part) usually brings his quarterbacks along slowly, starting them in their second or third year; David didn't start until his junior season.

We have all heard the cliché "no situation is too big" or some variation of that. It can definitely be argued that it may apply to Derek Carr. He's thrown passes to NFL superstar Andre Johnson, and he stood on stage with his brother during the 2002 NFL Draft, telling then-commissioner Paul Tagliabue, "I'll be back."

He also faced Stanford Cardinal quarterback Andrew Luck when he was playing high school football in Texas—oh, and by the way, Derek's team won.

The Bulldogs' 2011 schedule could present some great challenges for Derek though, with four out of their first five games against University of California (in San Francisco), at Nebraska and home against Mississippi and Boise State. This could be a lot to ask of this young man as he starts his career at Fresno State.

Bulldogs wide receiver Devon Wylie, a good friend of Derek's, has no reservations about playing a tough schedule.

"We have talent, athletes and effort. That's all you need to win," Wylie said.

The debate about Hill's reputation for playing a tough non-conference schedule has been raging for years, but Wylie is all for it.

"We signed up for it," he said. "When he came to recruit us, he said, "You will be playing the best teams that we can play,' and it's no doubt true."

Minus Jamel Hamler, Derek will be throwing to a lot of the same guys Colburn had in 2010, including Rashad Evans, Jalen Saunders and Wiley.

Wylie enters his senior season with high expectations. A sure-handed receiver with good speed, he has been plagued by injuries and is ready to take the field with his good friend throwing him the ball.  The speedy receiver has posted times of 4.25 and 4.27 in the 40-yard dash, the two fastest times in Bulldogs history.

Running backs Robbie Rouse and A.J. Ellis also return on offense, giving them a nice young core of talent, along with the returning receivers. All of these familiar faces and the experience that comes with them could definitely help their new quarterback.

Derek is a very humble, yet confident young man who not only thinks there is no situation too big, but also seems to think he's not too big for any situation. Win or lose in 2011, Bulldogs fans should know they have a quarterback they can be proud of and know he will leave it all out on the field each time he steps between the lines.

Derek seems very grateful for the situation he is in, and he doesn't have a sense of entitlement that a lot of young athletes seem to have. He exemplifies the term "team player" and compliments his teammates every chance he gets.

After talking to him for a while, I got the impression this kid will do whatever it takes to win—I could see it in his eyes.