But this isn't about former WVU wide receivers coach Butch Jones, now the head coach at UC. Nor is it a piece on former WVU players Jahmile Addae, Brandon Myles or Milo Austin, now either assistant coaches or involved with the Cincinnati support staff. Ditto Dave Lawson, a seven-year veteran of the West Virginia strength and conditioning staff who is now Cincinnati's director of strength and conditioning, or his top assistant Mike Szerszen, a former WVU graduate assistant.

No, this is about a guy who would have loved to have simply been offered a chance to come to West Virginia but never was. It's not that Zach Collaros would have taken the Mountaineers up on an offer. Who knows for certain?

But just being given the chance would have been nice.

And so when Collaros has a chance now to face West Virginia or Pitt, two schools much closer to his Steubenville, Ohio, home than Cincinnati, he likes to remember that neither wanted him. It's not a malicious thing, just sort of motivational.

"I grew up an Ohio State fan, but I was a lot closer to Pitt and West Virginia. I have friends on those teams. I have a couple of friends playing for West Virginia,'' Collaros said, mentioning fellow Steubenville grad Branko Busick. "Obviously you want to beat them because you didn't get recruited by them. I got a couple of letters from West Virginia, but I didn't get anything from Pitt. Of course, I didn't really get recruited by anybody.

"Cincinnati gave me a chance and it's worked out and thank God I'm here. I'm really blessed to have landed in Cincinnati.''

Here's the deal on Collaros, who is expected to return from an injury absence and start at quarterback for the Bearcats on Saturday when they face West Virginia. He's an undersized quarterback without the strongest of arms or the quickest of feet. As a high school player hoping to be recruited, that's a lethal combination even if you're playing for a Steubenville team that you just quarterbacked to a 30-0 record and two state championships.

Cincinnati took a chance on him in the 2007 signing class, back when Brian Kelly had just been named coach and the Bearcats had not yet escaped the mediocrity that had haunted the program for decades.

How's that worked out? Well, Collaros redshirted his first year and played sparingly his second. But as a third-year sophomore last season he was simply magnificent in relief of injured Tony Pike as the Bearcats went 12-1. This year he's leading the Big East in every significant passing and total offense category, and it's not even close. Collaros is averaging more than 60 yards more in passing and total offense than the league's No. 2, West Virginia's Geno Smith. He's thrown 20 touchdowns and just four interceptions.

Collaros wouldn't trade all that for anything, save perhaps a few more wins in a disappointing 2010 season.

Still, what's wrong with looking back and recalling that the team on the other side of the ball - the ones in your own back yard in the case of WVU and Pitt - had no use for you?

"A lot of people tell me that it was because baseball was really my sport in high school. I had a lot of offers in baseball, including West Virginia,'' Collaros said. "But football was always my passion. I'm 6-foot and a half [inch] and I don't have the strongest arm in the world, but I love the game. I guess with some of those numbers [recruiters] can overlook some people.

"It just adds fuel to the fire for me. Every day working out - whether I'm working on my footwork or arm strength, in the weight room - knowing that these teams passed on me, I just want to give it my all every time I go against those teams.''

He's really had just one opportunity so far. He's not played significantly against Pitt, but last year he started in place of Pike against West Virginia, completing 17-of-24 passes for 205 yards and running for 44 in a 24-21 win.

That was the fifth of five straight games in which he filled in for Pike and had almost otherworldly numbers. For the season he finished 93-for-124 passing for 1,434 yards, 10 touchdowns and only two interceptions.

Part of that, he admits, was perhaps a stroke of luck.

"I just think the offense we played in and the people I had around me really made it a lot easier,'' Collaros said. "If I'd been thrown into a situation without so many experienced guys and a lot of playmakers I'm sure it would have been a lot harder. We preached about the next man in and I had to step up and do my job.''

But this season Collaros has been almost as good. He passed for 463 yards against South Florida and seemed to have the Bearcats on track to a comeback win before injuring his knee and sitting out the final crucial minutes.

Not bad for a guy who seems almost self-deprecating about his own abilities.

"I'm not saying I'm not a confident person. But I know how people look at me and what they're thinking,'' Collaros said. "I am the underdog in a lot of people's eyes. I'm not as big as [most players], but I've always worked hard. Being from Steubenville High School they really instilled that in me. We were never really the underdogs in high school, but we worked that way. I really believe that having a chip on your shoulder is a good thing. Every day I wake up and think, 'I've got to outwork everybody else.' ''

Especially the guys who never paid much attention.

Reach Dave Hickman at 304-348-1734 or dphickm...@aol.com.