JUCO QB Jantz sets sights high

By Chris Williams, CycloneFanatic.com Publisher

Iowa State’s starting quarterback competition in 2011 just got a lot more interesting.

Fanatics, welcome City College of San Francisco signal caller Steele Jantz into your quarterback conversations.

Jantz, a 6-foot-3, 205-pound dual-threat passer, committed to Iowa State on Sunday afternoon.

In January, Jantz will be in Ames for second semester classes. He’ll participate in spring football in April and you guessed it, Jantz is ready to compete for the Iowa State’s starting quarterback job next fall.

“The fact that I’ll have an opportunity to be the guy was certainly a big reason,” Jantz said. “I just really liked it there. All of those things added up so I just went with it.”

Jantz, who Rivals.com ranks as the third best JUCO quarterback in America, chose Iowa State over claimed offers from Kansas State, UTEP, Louisiana Tech, San Jose State and a host of other small west coast schools.

“I am a dual-threat quarterback but I am pass first. I rely on my legs when I need to,” Jantz said. “I am really excited about the opportunity. I can’t wait.”

Along with the fact that Jantz (who has two years to play) will be in town for spring drills, he’s already vaguely familiar’s with Tom Herman’s (pictured above) complex offense. Because of that, Jantz’s learning curve might actually be fairly small.

“I really like that offense,” Jantz said. “In a lot of ways it is similar to the one that I have been running.”

This past Saturday, Jantz’s City College of San Francisco team lost to Mt. San Antonio in the California state community college championship game by a 34-7 final. Jantz went 21-of-48 for 224 yards in the win. Those numbers aren’t great, but Jantz was sacked nine times in the loss. Offensive line play was a major issue. City College of San Francisco ended the 2010 season with an 11-1 record.

Just a week before that, Jantz ran for four touchdowns (and passed for one) to lead CCSF to a 52-15 win in the Hawaiian Punch Bowl for the Northern California championship.

Overall in 2010, Jantz threw for 2,851 passing yards and 23 touchdowns. His final passer rating was 150.1. Jantz also ran for 613 yards and 14 touchdowns. Jantz accounted for 314.9 yards per game and 7.5 yards per play during his sophomore campaign.

CLICK HERE to view Jantz’s complete statistics from 2010.