Bill Whittemore has started football games on the high school, Division I-AA and junior college levels.

Tonight, Whittemore will finally get his shot as a starter in a major-college game when Kansas University travels to Nevada-Las Vegas.

Whittemore started the season as a backup to fellow junior Zach Dyer, but the quarterbacks reversed roles in the second half of a 45-3, season-opening loss at Iowa State.

“It was tough,” Whittemore said of the lopsided loss. “We weren’t expecting that. We came out and we were flat.”

Coach Mark Mangino is counting on Whittemore to spark the offense against the Runnin’ Rebels, and the Fort Scott Community College transfer said he’s ready for his first start as a Jayhawk.

“The team looks to you more and wants you to get in there and lead,” he said. “I’m just looking forward to getting in there and doing that.”

He’s waited long enough for the opportunity.

Winding road

Whittemore was an all-state quarterback at Brentwood High in Nashville, Tenn., and was the Class 5A player of the year his senior season. He set single-season school records for passing yards (3,356) and touchdown passes (27) and owns the school’s single-game records for passing yards (444) and touchdown passes (four). He also set the school record for longest TD pass with a 99-yarder.

He twice led Brentwood to district titles and was the MVP of the Shrine All-Star Game after his senior year.

Despite his accomplishments, major colleges didn’t come calling for the 6-foot quarterback.

“A little bit of it had to do with his size,” Fort Scott coach Kevin Verdugo said. “That’s not a real wise decision on their part. He’s a winner, and he’s going to get it done. Sometimes people get too caught up in the 6-foot-2 or 6-foot-3, 225-pound stereotype.”

Whittemore signed with I-AA Tennessee Martin and sat out the 1999 season as a red-shirt. Tennessee-Martin changed coaches before the 2000 season, and the Skyhawks changed to an option offense.

The quarterback didn’t thrive in the new scheme, completing 19 of 51 passes (37.3 percent) for 282 yards with a touchdown and four interceptions.

Go Greyhound

Whittemore decided his options at UTM were limited, and he transferred to Fort Scott last season. He completed 59 percent of his passes for 2,082 yards and 16 touchdowns in eight games.

Whittemore separated his shoulder late in the Greyhounds’ final game of the regular season, but he didn’t tell his coaches and finished the game.

“I’ve never seen the kid get mad or lose his cool,” said Verdugo, who played quarterback for Kansas in 1987 before transferring to Colorado State. “He’s extremely knowledgeable about the game. He has a great presence on the field. His teammates really rally around him. You’re going to have to cart him off the field to get him to quit. He’s a great competitor. Even when he’s was hurt he didn’t want to tell anyone about it because he wanted to play.”

Despite missing the playoffs, Whittemore was named MVP of the Jayhawk Conference.

Few major colleges noticed. Whittemore visited Middle Tennessee in his home state and was on a recruiting trip to New Mexico when Mangino called Verdugo with a late recruiting pitch.

A new home

The new KU coach signed Whittemore, who transferred in time for spring drills. Whittemore’s ailing shoulder had required surgery in November, however, and he wasn’t able to throw a pass for about three months. When spring football started in April, his arm grew fatigued quickly and he was penciled in at No. 2 on the depth chart behind Dyer.

“That was really frustrating for him,” Verdugo said.

If it was, Whittemore never let on and accepted the role of backup when Mangino made it official the week of the season opener.

“I was fine coming off the bench,” Whittemore said. “Either way, you have to have the same mentality. If you get in there, you have to perform.”

Dyer didn’t. The Olathe South product completed six of 14 passes for 50 yards with one interception against Iowa State and was benched after KU fell behind 17-0 at halftime. He also lost 16 yards on seven carries.

Whittemore’s numbers weren’t any better. He completed four of 17 passes for 31 yards, but KU was more effective moving the ball in the second half and mounted its only scoring drive with Whittemore under center. That’s due, in part, to the fact that he rushed for 29 yards on seven carries.

“Bill’s a threat to throw the ball anywhere on field,” Mangino said. “He can take it down and run with it when he needs to.”

Dyer had been taking most of the snaps with the first-string offense in practices. Mangino thinks Whittemore will improve as he gets more repetitions with the No. 1 squad.

“Bill’s starting to really look sharp,” he said. “He’s looking more poised and a lot more in charge.”

Settling in

Verdugo hopes KU’s coaches and fans will be patient with Whittemore.

“I think he can be a very successful quarterback,” Verdugo said. “The more he plays, the better he gets. That’s the way he was here. If you had told me in the preseason that he would be as good as he was, I wouldn’t have believed it.”

Verdugo certainly wouldn’t have believed it in the season opener against Highland. The first pass Whittemore threw for Fort Scott was intercepted and returned for a touchdown. He was picked off again later in the first quarter.

Verdugo stuck with his starter and was rewarded when his quarterback broke a long touchdown run. The Greyhounds’ offense started to click, and Whittemore finished the game with 571 yards passing and six touchdown passes.

“The rest of the year,” Verdugo said, “he was as good as gold.”