Aug. 28, 2005

He started his roll to the right, pulling away from the center on a path parallel to the line of scrimmage, when the reserve quarterback decided to cradle the ball under his arm and make a left turn that would bring him face to face with his future.

So what if the outcome had long ago been decided. And never mind that the vast majority of those still sitting through the cold Philadelphia Saturday were savoring the present - another Navy win over Army to guarantee a second straight Commander-in-Chief's title.

For those closest to Lamar Owens, the few seconds in which he ran untouched through the secondary and into the box score with his first career touchdown contained a promise about what was still to come.

"That was great," Owens says of the play that produced the final points of the Mids' 42-13 victory last December. "My parents and my little sister were there. Talking to people after the game, they were just so excited about next year.

"It struck me that my time was approaching."

Roughly nine months later, next year is now this year. His time is here.

No longer is Owens an understudy to Craig Candeto or Aaron Polanco. Instead, he is their successor as team captain and starting quarterback.

"Craig and Aaron were two different types of option quarterbacks," Owens says of the way they managed the Navy offense. "Craig worked a lot on building chemistry, he could relate to anybody. Aaron was tough-minded and physically tough."

With mainly a sideline view on Saturdays, Owens took note of those traits as Candeto and Polanco spent their senior seasons in 2003 and 2004, respectively, leading the Mids to a combined 18 wins overall, a 4-0 record against Air Force and Army and a pair of postseason appearances.

"Craig showed (Aaron and I) how to work and Aaron took if from there," says Owens. "Aaron could have started my freshman and sophomore years, but Craig was a little better. When (Aaron's) time came he performed. That's what I want.

"I don't want to let them down, because they have so much faith in me."

Probing into Owens' past, one realizes theirs isn't a blind faith. And despite a less-than-imposing stature - listed at a mere 5-foot-9 - he's proven himself worthy of reaching high standards, of furthering what might seem a large legacy.

Like that of his father.

Lamar Owens Sr. was a three-sport star in Savannah, Ga. who in 1979 earned an honor known as the Ashley Dearing Award - bestowed on the most versatile athlete in Chatham County.

After attending college at Austin Peay State in Tennessee, the elder Owens returned to Georgia's First City, where he and his wife, Kimberly, raised their family with an emphasis on education.

When young Lamar behaved like a self-described "bit of a knucklehead" in middle school, he was enrolled at Benedictine Military Academy.

"I was only supposed to attend military school my freshman year to see how I liked it," said Owens, who flourished in such a setting and emerged as the person his parents hoped he would be. "My parents always pushed me to be in my own group, not to follow."

Lead he did, as team captain in a sport for every season - football, basketball and track & field. And by the end of his scholastic career, like his dad more than two decades earlier, junior accepted the Ashley Dearing Award.

As early as October of his senior year at Benedictine, Owens was committed to attending college nearby in Statesboro. He'd been a regular at Georgia Southern's football camps and planned to play for the Eagles under head coach Paul Johnson.

Ivan Jasper was an assistant on Johnson's staff when Owens stood out in those summer sessions on the GSU campus.

"(Lamar) was a pretty competitive kid and a good athlete," Jasper recalled. "He carried himself differently."

Despite his size, Owens looked the part of a quarterback who could someday keep Southern in the upper echelon of Division I-AA. He was experienced in an option-style offense, having directed a wishbone attack, and was a natural leader.

It would have been a great fit. But a week after a high school playoff game in 2001, Owens opened the local newspaper to read the news of Johnson's imminent departure. He was headed to the Naval Academy, accompanied by several of his coaches, including Jasper and Brian Bohanon.

"I thought I was done with the recruiting thing," Owens recalled. "I went from being so sure of where I was going to where I didn't know."

Thrust back into the recruiting process, among the first calls Owens answered was from Annapolis. But by no means was his eventual college choice automatic. Only in time was he persuaded by both Jasper and Bohanon to forgo Purple and White for Blue and Gold.

"Coach Johnson didn't really talk to me during the recruiting process to Navy," said Owens. "The other coaches still did their job."

Lamar was influenced as well by the soon-to-be teammate who hosted his recruiting visit to the Academy, linebacker Eddie Carthan, himself a future team captain. There were also phone conversations with Chris Williams, a Benedictine grad and standout on the Mids' basketball team.

Still, as well informed as Owens appeared, life within the Academy walls was challenging. So too was the outside world of Division-I football.

That first year, Owens was educated not only in the option offense, but through the hard knocks he endured in a brief audition on special teams.

"I remember how it felt to catch my first kickoff against Air Force in Colorado Springs," Owens detailed in a recent e-mail. "It was a great feeling to be on the field."

Two weeks later, the emotion was far different following a fumbled return against Boston College.

"Before the next kickoff I was still beating myself up over it," Owens wrote. "Coach Johnson told me to forget about it and do better on the next kickoff, but not in those words.

"I think that helped me learn how important taking care of the football is in a game and how you have to keep fighting during a game, no matter what happens. Football is a game of reaction. You have to keep reacting to what happens. Whoever can keep their composure and perform best will win."

A harsh critic of his own performance, Owens braced for the opportunity awaiting him by heeding the lessons of his own experience and the words of the coaches he respects and trusts.

"I'm extremely tough on myself. I can take criticism," says Lamar. "More than anything, it drives me to be better. I know that a lot of guys depend on me.

"Any critique, especially the bad, I listen to. Both (Jasper) and (fellow assistant Ken Niumatalolo) were quarterbacks in this offense. Coach Jasper doesn't say much in practice. He tries to simulate games as much as possible. In games we can only talk to him when we come to the sidelines. But in the film room he explains everything very slowly and in every detail."

"There are two ways to go about it," Jasper says of his relationship with the Mids he tutors as quarterbacks coach. "They always know (in practice) to make eye contact. If they screw something up, I'll grab them and talk about it. We like to throw them into the fire."

Based on what he's witnessed on the practice field, in the weight room and in front of the video screen, Jasper is convinced Owens will stand up to the heat - like Candeto and Polanco before him.

"He probably knows (the offense) better than the other two guys in some aspects," says Jasper, a quarterback at Hawaii. "Lamar is more of a field general type, more of a coach on the field.

"Craig earned (success) and Aaron earned it. Lamar's always been a pretty sharp kid and picked up things fast."

His boss agrees, believing the strengths Owens possesses - especially a keen understanding of the offense - are enough to overcome any deficiencies.

"I think (Lamar) knows the system," Johnson said last month in a post-practice press conference. "He has pretty good quickness. He's not a burner, but he's got good 'quicks'. I think he understands the game, so hopefully that will be a big part of it."

There's something else, almost impossible to define. It's what Johnson calls an "innate leadership ability," a magnetism that draws his teammates to Owens. And it's not lost on Jasper either.

"There's something about (being named captain), I don't think it comes with just being the quarterback," Jasper explains. "All the guys feel comfortable around (Lamar). He'll crack jokes and have fun. He's not someone people are afraid to talk to. He's a pleasure to be around."

"It's a big honor. I understand that the guys need me to set the tone every day," Owens says of a role that entails added importance in an institution where all are bred to lead. "I can't take a day off, can't take a play off.

"You have to be your own person. (But) whatever attitude I bring to anything I do, guys will follow. I don't know when it happened (becoming a leader). I know how to make people comfortable when they're around me."

Of course, the quarterback's voice will resonate in the huddle only as long as he delivers with the ball in his hands. To execute as designed, to make proper decisions, to produce the big play - be it run or pass - when a game hangs in the balance.

For this too, Owens has prepared.

"Last spring I got a better look at what I need to do in order to be the number one quarterback," he says. "I needed to work on my footwork, be a better passer, just a lot of small things."

"Each of the quarterbacks has questions and concerns," adds Jasper. "Lamar needs to hold up physically. He showed in the spring he can carry the ball and engineer long scoring drives.

"We just want him to be smart. He had a great summer. He bulked up big time. He looks different. He put on good weight. He dedicated himself in the weight room."

Owens did all of that while serving as a detailer during the Academy's plebe summer.

"I have worked hard to get stronger," he said. "This offseason I was not as concerned with gaining weight but I wanted to gain strength."

He pumped iron, ran sprints while pulling a sled, spent time completing drills in a sand pit and organized teammates to spend hot July afternoons rehearsing the very plays they plan to make from today through December.

After all, there's a legacy Lamar Owens is determined to continue. People are counting on him and he's not about to disappoint them.

He fully understands how far the Navy football program has come in his first three years. And the Mids' offensive captain wants to ensure the future is spent moving forward.

"We may be young, but we remember when we were 2-10," Owens says. "And we know the difference between what it takes to go 10-2 and 2-10. That's what we're striving for."