Before the football season started, a reporter asked Bill Whittemore if he was the best quarterback in the Big 12 Conference.

“I’m not,” he said. “That’s not for me to decide anyway.”

After leading Kansas University to a 3-1 start, the captain was given a second chance to proclaim himself the best of the Big 12.

“I’ve got the same comment on that,” Whittemore said. “It’s up to whatever the statistics say and whatever y’all think.”

Heading into today’s Big 12 Conference opener against Missouri, the statistics would seem to make a pretty good argument for Whittemore.

The senior from Brentwood, Tenn., has completed 61.3 percent of his passes with two interceptions. His 1,098 passing yards rank second in the league to B.J. Symons of Texas Tech, and his 10 touchdown passes rank second to Jason White of Oklahoma. Whittemore also ranks second to Symons in total offense with 1,301 total yards.

Oh yeah, he’s also the nation’s second-rated passer.

“I think you’d be hard-pressed to find anybody better than Whittemore in this league right now with the way he’s playing,” said Missouri coach Gary Pinkel, whose defense will try to slow the nation’s fourth-rated offense.

Bombs away

Whittemore was the Big 12 Offensive Newcomer of the Year last season when he passed for 1,666 yards and 11 touchdowns and rushed for 549 yards and 11 TDs in nine games.

As good as those numbers were in an injury-shortened season, they pale in comparison with what Whittemore has done so far this year. Whittemore already has broken his single-game highs for passing yards (twice), TD passes (twice) and longest completion.

Whittemore’s longest completion last season was 23 yards. That seems downright wimpy compared to the bombs he dropped against the Jayhawks’ nonconference foes this season.

“I think it’s not surprising of Bill,” KU quarterbacks coach and offensive coordinator Nick Quartaro said. “I think it’s surprising we’ve had more big plays in the first four games than we had for the entire season last year. That’s where big numbers come from.”

Whittemore passed for 240 yards in the season opener against Northwestern, then put up a career-high 270 against UNLV, 269 against Wyoming and 319 last week against Jacksonville State.

“Those are definitely numbers I wasn’t expecting,” Whittemore said. “I didn’t think about it, to be honest. Those aren’t really my stats, I feel. A lot of those balls I’m throwing 20 yards, and they’re breaking it for 80. It’s a team thing. We’ve done a good job on offense so far, and we have to continue that.”

Truth be told, Whittemore’s first big play of the year was a short pass on a busted play that sophomore receiver Mark Simmons turned into a 74-yard TD against Northwestern.

That was KU’s only offensive touchdown in a 28-20, rain-plagued defeat.

Since then, the Jayhawks have scored more than 40 points in three straight games.

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Whittemore had a 39-yard TD pass to Simmons in a 46-24 victory against UNLV. In a 42-35 victory at Wyoming, Whittemore had three TD passes of 25 yards or more — two to freshman receiver Charles Gordon and another to Simmons.

Last week against Jax State, Whittemore unleashed a 65-yarder to Simmons and hooked up with junior receiver Brandon Rideau on a 54-yard strike.

“I’ve said before, and I’ll continue to say, that quarterbacks get too much attention,” Whittemore said. “Y’all are talking about my statistics, my numbers. It’s what the team does around you.”

Supporting cast

Last year the team struggled around Whittemore.

An ineffective offensive line led KU coach Mark Mangino to use his running backs as blockers for Whittemore, who was the Jayhawks’ leading rusher before suffering a knee injury in the ninth game of the season at Missouri.

The quarterback carried the ball 137 times.

“Everybody hates to see their baby get beat up,” quipped the quarterback’s dad, Bill Whittemore Sr. “Guys were giving it everything they had. We were just overmatched in a lot of situations. Everybody fought as hard as they could. It’s neat to see the improvements.

“I think it’s a great tribute to coach Mangino and what they’ve been able to do in a short period of time. The offensive line and the receiving corps have improved so much. Golly. Then you add Clark Green and John Randle. He’s put together quite a lot of weapons.”

Mangino revamped his offensive line, moving senior Adrian Jones from tight end to left tackle and switching junior Tony Coker from right tackle to right guard. The other starters on the line — freshman left guard Bob Whitaker, junior center Joe Vaughn, and senior right tackle Danny Lewis — are new.

“They’ve done a great job,” the younger Whittemore said. “They came together real quick. We have new guys in new positions. They’ve learned their roles, and they’ve done a heck of a job. They’re going to have a big task ahead of them this week facing Missouri. They’ve probably got the best defensive line we’ve faced so far.”

Kansas quarterback Bill Whittemore looks for an open receiver. Whittemore has passed for 1,098 yards and 10 touchdowns in four games.

With improved protection and Whittemore’s natural scrambling ability, he has been sacked one time.

“He runs well,” Pinkel said. “He has great quickness and great pocket awareness. He’s one of those guys that everything can be collapsing around him, and all of a sudden he senses it and he’s gone — not just in the sense of running the football, but also getting out onto the perimeter and making a lot of plays.”

The quarterback also has benefited from an improved running game. Green has rushed for a team-leading 374 yards, and Randle — a true freshman — has 177.

“Bill can only do so much,” said Gordon, who has 16 catches for 314 yards and two TDs. “We all need to chip in and do our part.”

Quiet man

It would be fine with Whittemore if his teammates got more of the credit for the team’s 499.75 yards-per-game average.

“He’s a really humble guy,” Quartaro said. “You can see it. He doesn’t want attention. Sometimes he’s embarrassed by it. He’s not interested in numbers, and that’s the joy of coaching him. He’s just a normal, down-to-earth guy trying to play his position the best he can.”

Whittemore has been gracious with the media, though he’s visibly uncomfortable under the lights of TV cameras.

Is he more vocal in the huddle?

“He’s probably even more quiet,” Quartaro said. “He’s very focused, but the kids know he’s in charge. They respect him for what he’s doing. He’s a very good leader by example.”

Whittemore might be the least likely player in the nation to strike a Heisman pose, or even spike the ball, after a touchdown. But after suffering through a 2-10 season a year ago, there have been a few rare signs of emotion.

Last week against Jacksonville State, Whittemore ran 15 yards down the JSU sideline, dragging a defender into the end zone for a TD that gave KU a 28-0 lead with 21 seconds left in the first quarter.

“He popped up. The adrenaline was flowing,” Quartaro said. “His teammates came to greet him, and he headbutted Bob Whitaker. That’s about the most we’ve seen out of him. He’s very even-tempered.”

And tough.

Whittemore suffered an undisclosed injury early in last week’s game, but hung around for three quarters before sophomore Brian Luke mopped in the 41-6 blowout.

“Every time I asked him what was wrong with him he said, ‘I’m all right,'” Gordon said. “He tries to show no weakness.”

Winding road

Forgive Whittemore if he’s unwilling to come out of a game. There have been too many times that it looked like he might not get to play at all.

He was a first-team all-state selection as a senior at Brentwood High when he passed for 3,356 yards and 27 TDs, but few colleges noticed.

“He was let down something big didn’t come along out of high school,” Whittemore’s father said. “It wasn’t a straight-line trip, was it?”

The younger Whittemore started his college career at Tennessee-Martin, where he red-shirted in 1999. UTM changed coaches before the 2000 season, and he didn’t thrive in the new offense. After a knee injury ended his season, he transferred to Fort Scott Community College, where he was named MVP of the Jayhawk Conference after passing for 2,082 yards and 16 TDs in eight games.

Three years after his college career began, Whittemore was suddenly a major-college prospect.

Whittemore missed the final game of his junior-college career because of a shoulder injury, which required surgery in the offseason.

Quartaro said the quarterback’s arm wasn’t significantly stronger than last season, but it might be healthier. The coach said Whittemore’s arm was “weary” at times last year, and he was restricted during practices.

“It never affected him on game day,” Quartaro said, “but you want your quarterback to take as many reps as possible.”

Whittemore’s getting plenty of reps this season, and the additional work with his receivers is paying dividends.

“You’re not going to shut him down,” Pinkel said, “you try to contain him the best you can.”

Talented Tigers

No. 23 Missouri likely will bring the toughest defense KU has seen to date. The Jayhawks also will face the pressure of playing in front of their biggest home crowd in two years while trying to put together their first four-game winning streak since 1995.

The game will be a measuring stick for both Mangino’s program and Whittemore, who will be matched against Missouri quarterback Brad Smith. The sophomore ranks fifth in the Big 12 in total offense and was getting his share of Heisman hype in the preseason.

“Rivalries bring out the best in everybody,” Whittemore said. “It’s going to come down to who makes plays, whether they’re the best player or not.”