James Nedock/THE POST Ohio quarterback Dontrell Jackson hands the ball off in Ohio's 42-17 loss to Ohio State. Jackson completed 5-of-6 passes in the game.

Growth is something that every coach looks for in his quarterback. Most don't mean literally.

Ohio's quarterback Dontrell Jackson is not done growing, literally or figuratively. The 17-year-old quarterback said he has not gone through his growth spurt yet, something his 5-10, 175-pound frame attests for literally and his statistics prove figuratively.

Jackson, the only true freshman starting quarterback in Division I-A, was thrown to the wolves in his first collegiate start, a game his team lost 33-7 to Minnesota. Three games later, he is standing tall after his first victory - a 45-6 win over Buffalo on Sept. 25.

The Illinois native started his first game for the Bobcats before he went to his first collegiate class. Jackson led the offense to a score on its first possession before he was hit with reality, as the Bobcat's offense met a tough Minnesota defense in Ohio's season-opening loss. Most Ohio football fans didn't think he would play at all.

When Jackson arrived in Athens this past summer, he came in as the likely backup to Dan Jordan, who, as a true freshman last year, played sparingly as Kareem Wilson's backup. But things didn't go as planned. A Jordan injury coupled with Jackson's strong summer showing left the young quarterback with the chance to prove he belonged in his position.

"I just wanted to come in and play hard," Jackson said. "(Ohio Head Football Coach Jim Grobe) felt I was the man for the job and that's good. I think it was a good choice."

Good choices seem to be the theme of Jackson's college experience so far. As a high school senior, Jackson was recruited by Michigan, Iowa, Indiana, Notre Dame and many other schools in the Midwest. While these schools might possess a bigger name than Ohio, none of them wanted to give him a chance to start at quarterback this season, the majority wanted to utilize his athletic ability at another position.

Indiana was the only Big Ten school that offered him a chance to play quarterback, but only after Antwaan Randle-El's eligibility runs out in two seasons. After spending his freshman and sophomore years at Thorndale (Ill.) High School backing up Randle-El, Jackson said he didn't want to play in the shadow of his long-time friend.

"I think our style of play is very similar, but I try to be my own man," Jackson said.

His experience at Thorndale running an option offense has allowed Jackson to adjust to Ohio's offense quickly.

"We ran all types of options," Jackson said of his high school team. "We ran the triple option, the double option; we ran everything. The transition from high school to college with running the option hasn't been that great at all. It wasn't that difficult because I already knew the read keys."

Ohio joined the recruiting war early, when Jackson attended the Ohio football camp the summer before his senior season. Grobe saw his skills, then gave Recruiting Coordinator Ray McCartney his assignment.

"We didn't take 30 seconds to offer him a scholarship," Grobe said of Jackson's performance at Ohio's summer camp. "We told (McCartney) to get hopping."

Now that he is getting acclimated to college football, Jackson's consistently improving play has his confidence high.

"My comfort level is fine," Jackson said. "All my reads are going great, I'm doing a good job throwing the ball. My offensive line is giving me a lot of time. We're jelling together, our offense is a fast-break offense and we're coming together."

When it comes to his team, Jackson said he is more than pleased with his college choice.

"I love the people, I love the coaches and I especially love my teammates," he said.

Fortunately for Dontrell, his teammates love him back.

"He's my homey," Ohio center Mike Varone said. "There's nothing the offensive line won't do for Dontrell. That's to the point. We love the guy. He can play offensive guard or center, he's that tough.

"We're keeping people more honest now and it helps us," Varone said. "Dontrell can throw the ball and not to say Kareem wasn't good and couldn't throw (the ball) but Dontrell is all-in-one."

Jackson's statistics have not been stellar: he has passed for over 100 yards in a game only once, against Northern Iowa. But with a 5-6 passing performance against Ohio State, and an overall improvement in total yards every game, Grobe predicts that as the season-and Jackson's career-go on, his statistics will rise.

"He's a guy that makes us go, really," he said. "I think what you are going to see as he develops is that he's going to have better stats. Right now he's just averaging about three-yards-a-carry for us, and some of that is because he's pretty smart about eating the football when things fall apart. He doesn't turn the ball over very much.

"When it's there he takes it and if it's not, he eats it," Grobe said. "You're not going to find many young guys that can do that. He's really mature beyond his years. We couldn't ask for any young guy to come in and orchestrate what we're doing better than him."

Grobe said Jackson's teammates look at their young quarterback with respect because of the way he conducts himself on the field.

"When he comes to practice, he barks out signals; he's not timid about taking charge," Grobe said. "I think that's one thing our offensive guys like about him. He's a great guy but he's no-nonsense and loves to compete"

Varone appreciates Jackson's desire to win, even though Jackson knows he has three more seasons to win a Mid-American Conference title.

"This is our last year here," said Varone referring particularly to himself, offensive tackle Steve Gaydosz and tight end Drew Dwyer. "He's got to be our fifth year guy here. We've only got one shot at this. Every year we come in thinking we've only got one shot. Dontrell has it in his mind that this is the year. It's not next year, it's this year. This is our year."

Jackson said he doesn't see this season as a rebuilding year, and that the team must take things one game at a time before they start thinking about football glory in the years to come.

"We don't want to rebuild, we want to reload," Jackson said. "We're not trying to wait a couple of years and make a run, we want to go at it now. We want to see what we can do now, give it our all and see what happens."