The last time the Cowboys started a rookie quarterback on opening day, Hall of Fame coach Tony Dungy was standing on the sideline.

The other sideline.

His Tampa Bay Buccaneers provided the opposition for Quincy Carter and the Cowboys in their 2001 NFL season opener. The Cowboys were so excited about their new quarterback, a second-round draft pick out of Georgia, that they cut veteran Tony Banks in training camp to put the offense in Carter's hands.

"We were scared to death of Quincy Carter," Dungy said. "We didn't know what we're dealing with. You hear the guy is a tremendous athlete. You hear he's supposed to be this, and he's supposed to be that. But you haven't seen it. So we watched some of his college tape and all of his preseason tape, and you start telling yourself, 'There must be something that I'm not seeing.'"

Well, there wasn't. Carter lost his debut, failing to generate a touchdown in a 10-6 setback to the Bucs. Carter was 9 of 19 passing for 34 yards with two interceptions and two sacks.

Now it's Dak Prescott's turn. When Tony Romo went down in the third preseason game with yet another back injury, the Cowboys' offense became property of the fourth-round draft pick from Mississippi State. Prescott was spectacular in the preseason, completing 78 percent of his passes for 454 yards and five touchdowns with no interceptions.

But Prescott will be seeing a different game from the New York Giants in the season opener Sunday than he saw from the Rams, Dolphins and Seahawks in the preseason.

"There's a difference between professional football and college football," Dungy said, "and there's a difference between preseason and regular season. It's played at a whole different speed, a whole different intensity level. A rookie quarterback is going to see things for the first time. Defenses will be doing things differently, with more coverages."

Carter was one of four rookie quarterbacks to make their NFL starting debuts against a Dungy defense. They combined to complete only 30 of 75 passes for 287 yards with seven interceptions and 14 sacks. Dungy's defenses did not allow a passing touchdown to those four rookies and yielded only one touchdown of any kind in the four games -- and that came on a 20-yard drive after a turnover when John Elway handed the ball off on four consecutive plays.

Yes, John Elway.

Elway made his starting debut in 1983 against the Pittsburgh Steelers, for whom Dungy was defensive backs coach. He completed only 1 of 8 passes for 14 yards with an interception and four sacks. The Broncos wound up winning the game 14-10, but Elway was long gone by then. He was knocked out of the game in the second quarter with an elbow injury.

"You could see John Elway had talent," Dungy said. "You knew he was going to be good. But you also knew it was going to be a struggle [for him] that whole first year. It's a different game, and there's too much to learn."

Elway was the first pick of his NFL draft. So was Alex Smith of his. Dungy's Colts also provided the opposition for Smith's debut start in the fifth week of the 2005 season. He completed 9 of 23 passes for 74 yards with four interceptions and five sacks in a 28-3 loss.

"I watched Alex on tape and liked him," Dungy said. "I remember going up to him after the game telling him, 'Hey, you're going to be a good quarterback.' I told him I coached John Elway's first game, and he never got out of the first half. 'You did better than he did.'"

Dungy's Tampa Bay defense also provided the opposition in the debut start of Detroit's Mike McMahon in 2001. He completed 11 of 25 passes for 165 yards with no touchdowns or interceptions and three sacks in a 15-12 loss.

The defensive game plan is simple, whether you're playing John Elway, Quincy Carter, Mike McMahon, Alex Smith or Dak Prescott.

"Play run defense early -- load the box on first and second down and make him throw the ball," Dungy said. "Put him in second-and-9s and third-and-10s. Try to get him in passing situations. Then take away the short passes and make him throw the ball down the field. Put the ball in the quarterback's hands, and make him beat you. Make him throw five times every drive. Most of them can't do it early on.

"The belief is if I can force this guy to throw 20 passes, we're going to win the game."

The stats bear Dungy out. Since 1980, there have been 133 quarterbacks who debuted as NFL starters in their rookie seasons. Only 26 of those rookie quarterbacks threw fewer than 20 passes in their debuts. They combined for a 14-12 record. The other 107 quarterbacks who threw 20 or more passes have a combined 29-77-1 record.

Only 43 of those 133 quarterbacks won their debut starts. Fifty-two of them failed to throw a touchdown pass, and 94 threw interceptions.

"Peyton Manning came into the NFL as prepared as you could possibly be to play quarterback," Dungy said. "He had [Hall of Famers] Marshall Faulk and Marvin Harrison ... and they won only three games.

"Unless you ride the running game, throw 14 passes and have a great defense to win low-scoring games, rookie quarterbacks don't win in the NFL."

Listen to Rick Gosselin at 10:50 a.m. Tuesdays on Sportsradio 1310 AM/96.7 FM The Ticket with Norm Hitzges and Donovan Lewis.

On Twitter: @RickGosselinDMN