Sports

Greg Hansen: Costa ready to play catch me if you can

Dominic Koch Costa is the one UA football player who would get me off the sofa, reaching for my wallet to buy a ticket. This does not mean I will not enjoy seeing Lamon Means, unblocked on a safety blitz, or Mike Bell turning the corner, shoulders square, nothing in front of him but grass. But Costa is going to create a new position at Arizona this fall - blur back - and if you're going to buy just one football ticket, I recommend putting down the money to watch No. 7. Sometimes he'll be a receiver, sometimes a tailback, sometimes a quarterback. The only absolute is that he'll be the one running fast. On Thursday, Arizona coach Mike Stoops noted that a pair of freshmen cornerbacks, Wilrey Fontenot and Dramayne McElroy are the fastest runners on the team. Costa's reaction: "I don't know. We've never raced before. But if I'm out there and I'm getting the ball, you're not going to catch me." This UA coaching staff is smart enough to recognize that it would be a good thing to make Costa more than a backup quarterback. Yes, it's entirely legal and within the rules of college football to try to deceive the opposing defense. If the Costa switch works, it should make opposing coaches go into the ulcer-mode. "The coaches have told me I'm going to be on the field for 30 to 50 plays a game," Costa said Thursday. "They want to use me at quarterback, as a wide receiver and as a running back. I can be a decoy. I can throw the ball. I can do a lot of things. It's a slash-type role. I'm excited. I've never done this before. If I can get the ball in my hands, I think I can be successful, and in turn, help the team be successful." In Arizona's abysmal 2003 season, the single most exciting play was Costa's 43-yard fourth-quarter run - a QB scramble - that was a shoestring-tackle away from beating UCLA. At that moment, it was as if everyone in the stadium had the same thought: Hey, this guy should be doing more than getting sacked, standing in the pocket and waiting for a receiver to get open. And, indeed, Stoops and offensive coordinator Mike Canales have seen the light. Costa will be a major extension of what Dick Tomey created in 1998 when mobile quarterbacks Smith and Jenkins routinely lined up all over the field. The one edge now is that Costa has lower mileage than the bruised and battered Smith model, and a body that is out of a weightlifter's guide to physical perfection. Stoops and Canales will not run scared, afraid to expose a quarterback to open-field contact. It's the old if-you've-got-it, flaunt-it approach. And Nic Costa's got it. The significant difference between Costa and the sometimes reluctant Smith/Jenkins combo of 1998-99 is that Costa has accepted the change and no longer sees himself fully as a quarterback. As he said Thursday, "a lot of NFL receivers have made the switch from being a college quarterback." Ah, the big picture. Costa, an honor student, the best quote on the club, gets it. He's not going to be a pouting, you're-ruining-a-good-quarterback head case. "The more I thought about it, the more agreeable I became," he said. "At first, in spring ball, I wanted to see where the whole thing was going. But now, I'm excited. I have a quarterback's perspective and know why things work and where all the other players are supposed to be. It gives me an edge." Costa has been delayed starting his junior season because, tragically, his father died of cancer Aug. 2 in Portland, Ore. Joseph Costa, a real estate appraiser, was 56. Although Nic had not lived with his father for about 12 years - his parents were divorced when he was 8 - father and son had in the last few years made an attempt to get closer. After the funeral, Nic was charged with taking care of his father's affairs. "I had power of attorney and had to make some tough decisions," he said. "One day, I spent seven hours cleaning out all of his stuff. It was very hard. Because of that, my head hasn't been in football. It's slowly coming back, but I've got to move on; I'm ready to make the best of it." This weekend, Costa begins anew at Arizona, and in life. He'll take his first practice repetitions as a receiver. If all goes well, he'll reinvent himself as Mr. Blur in Arizona's new-look offense. "It's going to be an exciting ride," he said with a smile. "This program is ready to take off."