Brink's journey headed home.

Byline: Curtis Anderson The Register-Guard

Washington State quarterback Alex Brink has never taken a snap at Autzen Stadium.

The fifth-year senior was dressed down and on the field the last time the Cougars paid a visit to Eugene, a 55-16 WSU victory in 2003, but his duties were limited to sending signals in from the sidelines.

This time will be different.

Brink, who was born and raised in Eugene, and led Sheldon High School to the Class 4A state title as a senior in 2002, has been looking forward to Saturday's homecoming against the No. 9 Ducks (4-1 overall, 1-1 Pac-10) for his entire collegiate career.

Kickoff is set for 12:30 p.m.

A quirk in the Pac-10 schedule sent Oregon to Pullman the past three seasons, so this will be Brink's one and only chance to play in the stadium where he first became a college football fan, where he attended countless Duck games with his parents and then returned home to fill his room with UO souvenirs.

"It's an incredible opportunity," Brink said. "To come from Eugene, and have the chance to play the Ducks, a team I grew up watching, that will be awesome."

Some UO fans might be wondering what the 6-foot-3, 207-pound Brink would look like in a Duck uniform.

Despite a record-shattering high school career with the Irish - he was 35-3 as a starter and still holds the state record with 9,000 passing yards - Brink never got a scholarship offer from Oregon.

With little interest from the Ducks, he initially gave a verbal commitment to Boise State, but switched his allegiance to the Cougars when Eastern Washington offensive coordinator Timm Rosenbach, who was among those still actively courting Brink, was named quarterbacks coach at WSU.

"I was certainly disappointed," Brink said. "I felt like I worked hard and did some good things in high school. I would have liked the opportunity to go to Oregon. I can't say, honestly, that I would have gone there, but it would have been nice to get that attention from your hometown school."

Brink returns to the Willamette Valley with nothing to prove.

One of the most memorable games of his career came against the Ducks last season. He guided the Cougars to a 34-23 upset, a contest in which he established a Washington State single-game record with an .870 completion percentage, connecting on 20-of-23 passes that day and completing his final 17 passes.

He's also given the Beavers trouble in Corvallis.

During his sophomore season, Brink threw for 531 yards against OSU, the fourth-best mark in league history. He finished with 515 yards of total offense, the second-best mark by a Pac-10 quarterback.

UO head coach Mike Bellotti was a spectator at most of Brink's high school games because his son, Luke, was the place-kicker on those teams. He liked what he saw, but Oregon signed three quarterbacks that year - Johnny DuRocher, Brady Leaf and Dennis Dixon - and all three were more heralded and more physically advanced than Brink.

"I was very impressed with Alex," Bellotti said. "I talked to him personally, and our quarterbacks coach talked to him personally. We were considering whether to offer him a walk-on opportunity. We signed three quarterbacks that year ... one was player of the year in California (Dixon) and one was player of the year in Washington (DuRocher), and Alex was not as physically developed as those guys."

In the end, WSU (2-4, 0-3) turned out to be a perfect fit for Brink.

He stepped into the starting role as a redshirt freshman in 2004 after Josh Swogger was lost for the season with a broken foot, and Brink hasn't sat down since. When Brink takes the field against Oregon on Saturday, it will be his 34th consecutive start, second in the nation to Iowa State's Bret Meyer, who has 42.

Had Brink come to Oregon, he would have been blocked by Kellen Clemens for his first two years, and then locked in a battle for playing time with Dixon and Brady Leaf, and who knows how comfortable he would have been in the Ducks' spread option attack? Had he gone to Boise State, he would have trailed Jared Zabransky on the depth chart until this year.

"When coaches are looking for exact fits, Alex wouldn't be the people's choice to run the spread option," Sheldon coach Marty Johnson said. "But I'm sure he could do it. He's more athletic than people give him credit for. He shows that on scrambles out of the pocket. ... I think he could play in any system."

Brink, who will graduate with a degree in sport management with a lofty grade-point average in the 3.6 range, has had an unbelievable career from a statistical standpoint.

He became WSU's all-time passing leader with 8,923 yards after his performance in last week's 23-20 loss to 14th-ranked Arizona State. He already owns school records in career attempts, completions and total offense; needs four more touchdown passes to overtake Jason Gesser in that category, and is on pace to become just the eighth quarterback in Pac-10 history to surpass 10,000 yards in passing and total offense.

Those numbers, however, are not always appreciated by WSU fans.

At a school once dubbed "Quarterback U," by Sports Illustrated - with a nod to NFL quarterbacks such as Jack Thompson, Mark Rypien, Timm Rosenbach, Drew Bledsoe, Ryan Leaf and Jason Gesser - those who follow the Cougars have a hard time climbing aboard the Brink bandwagon. The detractors point to his overall win-loss record (14-20) and no trips to bowl games.

"I've learned over the years to block it out," Brink said. "It's hard, because as a player and a person, you want people to like you and respect what you do. But you can't make everybody happy, so I try to focus on what my teammates and coaches tell me, and be sure to keep my family and friends close to me, because that's what's important."

Brink maintains he will have no problem keeping a lid on his emotions this week, but he's not so sure about his teammate, senior Chris Baltzer, a backup middle linebacker, who was another member of the Irish state championship team. Baltzer's career at WSU has been stalled by five knee surgeries, the first one coming as a junior at Sheldon.

"Once I walk out onto the field at Autzen, I know my emotions will get jacked up," Brink said. "But I don't think I'll be too jacked up. I understand the significance of this game. We need to win a football game bad, and that's first and foremost on my mind. I'll be excited but I'll also be under control. I can't say if he (Baltzer) will be as in check as I will be."

One thing is certain: Brink's personal fan club will be out in full force.

His mom, Jennifer Haliski, hasn't missed a game in four years, and one of her tasks will be delivering a barbecue chicken pizza to Brink's hotel on Friday. Make that two pizzas. His paternal grandparents, Carl and Joan Brink, are flying in from South Carolina, and his older brother, Ben, a former all-American swimmer at Tennessee who now lives in Memphis, also will be in attendance.

And then there's the entire crew from Sheldon.

The Irish haven't lost a league football game since Brink's first prep start against Churchill as a sophomore in 2000, reeling off 52 consecutive wins.

Don't be surprised if Brink makes an unscheduled appearance at Friday's home game against Roseburg.

"I might have to go out there," Brink said. "I keep in close contact with coach Johnson. As a player and a person, he did a lot for me growing up in that program. They've done some great things since Chris and I and that entire class of seniors left. It's awesome to know we started that streak they have going."

THE BRINK FILE

Career passing stats for WSU quarterback Alex Brink

YEAR COMP-ATT INT TD YARDS

2004 97-194 5 7 1,305

2005 205-358 13 24 2,891

2006 241-396 10 19 2,899

2007 160-247 5 17 1,828

TOTAL 703-1,195 33 67 8,923

WSU QUARTERBACK CLUB

No. Player Years Yards

1. Alex Brink 2004-present 8,923

2. Jason Gesser 1999-02 8,830

3. Jack Thompson 1975-78 7,818

4. Ryan Leaf 1994-97 7,433

5. Drew Bledsoe 1990-92 7,373

6. Timm Rosenbach 1986-88 5,995

7. Mark Rypien 1981-85 4,573