All through spring football and into the fall, Northwestern listed Tony Stauss as its starting quarterback.

But when the subject came up, NU coach Randy Walker made it clear that nobody had the position locked down.

So when Stauss, the backup to Zak Kustok in 2001, started the season opener at Air Force, he said he felt the heat from freshmen Brett Basanez and Alexander Webb.

But that heat didn’t produce a spark in Stauss’ play — it produced a nervous performance and a seat on the bench before halftime. And by the next Saturday’s game against Texas Christian, Basanez had taken over the starting job.

Now, with six games played since his last start, Stauss finds himself atop the depth chart once again. This time, though, he has no need to look over his shoulder. Both Basanez and Webb are injured, and the Cats would rather not play true-freshman backup Derell Jenkins, so he can redshirt this season.

Stauss, known to be far more serious than Basanez, thinks the current situation will make him more comfortable on the field.

“I probably put a little too much pressure on myself at the beginning,” Stauss said. “I was playing not to lose the job. Obviously, now it’s a different story. I feel like I’ve got nothing to lose out there, and I’m going to go out there and fly around the park a little bit.”

Flying around the park and having fun are two things NU offensive coordinator Mike Dunbar has tried to encourage in Stauss.

“It’s definitely a different personality (than Basanez),” Dunbar said. “But I like his intensity and focus. It just has to be within control. He’s a great competitor, he just needs to relax and have some fun in there.”

Early in the season, Walker said working with Stauss was often like “dealing with impending gloom,” as the sophomore put undue pressure on himself. Walker added that, in retrospect, some of the early criticism might have been unfair — after all, Air Force remains undefeated.

“In all honesty and truthfulness, Tony might not have gotten the best deal you ever got playing quarterback here, coming out of the blocks,” Walker said. “We found out just how good an Air Force team we played that day. We came out and struggled as an offense trying to find ourselves and our identity.”

Since then, the offense has come into its own with Basanez at the helm, and tailback Jason Wright has established himself as a solid Big Ten running back..

Stauss played against Texas Christian, completing 8 of 12 passes for 50 yards, and he was under center for the final two drives of the Michigan State loss on Sept. 28, throwing for one touchdown and one interception. But he hasn’t played since.

Stauss said that he has seen a dramatic improvement in the offensive unit’s confidence and enthusiasm in practice and while watching from the sidelines.

“The more we have guys going out there making plays and getting first downs and scoring touchdowns, the better it’s going to be for (Stauss),” receiver Jon Schweighardt said. “Because then he’s not going to go out there and feel like he’s got to do everything. If we put some of the weight on everybody else’s shoulders and distribute things, he doesn’t have to go out there and be the big, big guy.”

Walker and Dunbar said there won’t be any serious changes to the offensive game plan now that Stauss is starting.

And running backs Wright and Noah Herron say that’s fine with them — they can do whatever needs to be done to accommodate Stauss, even if it means adopting a more serious attitude in the backfield.

“Brett plays better when he’s relaxed, and we respond well to that,” Herron said. “There’s a lot of pressure, but we’re trying to have fun. We’re going to follow what Tony does, take his lead. Whatever makes him feel comfortable, we have to do to get the job done.”

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Daily file photo

Tony Stauss attempts a pass last year against Iowa. Stauss replaces the injured Brett Basanez Saturday against Penn State.

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Starting over again

Tony Stauss returns to the starting lineup after six games coming off the bench

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