It was a near freezing afternoon, Nov. 11, 1973, when the New York Jets played the New England Patriots in Shea Stadium.

At some point in the fourth quarter, quarterback Bill Demory, a 22-year-old undrafted rookie from Arizona, helping to sub for an injured Joe Namath, threw a pass for the Jets.

Demory never threw another pass in the NFL.

And neither has any other quarterback from the University of Arizona.

“Really?” said first-year Arizona coach Rich Rodriguez.

“Wow,” added quarterbacks coach Rod Smith. “That is shocking. It is. That’s very shocking.”

Yes, it is an incredible, thoroughly unimaginable, drought.

In the nearly four decades since Demory’s last pass, the Wildcats often have had passers who couldn’t run, runners who couldn’t pass, talented quarterbacks who were too short, tall quarterbacks who were too untalented, and offenses that lacked pizzazz and pro-style preparation.

Making matters worse by comparison, Arizona spent most of this span in the Conference of Quarterbacks, joining the Pac-8 along with Arizona State in 1978. The league expanded to 12 in 2011, adding Colorado and Utah.

For now, let’s just consider the other nine members of what was the Pac-10. That was UA’s main competition through this NFL quarterback wasteland.

Here goes: Since 1974, the other nine schools in the Pac-10 had 98 quarterbacks attempt a pass in the NFL.

Those 98 quarterbacks started 3,659 NFL games. They completed 65,023 of 114,730 pass attempts for 785,236 yards. They threw for 4,525 touchdowns.

Meanwhile, the Wildcats’ quarterback odometer was stuck at zero.

The nightmare could soon be over.

Third-round draft pick Nick Foles wowed the Philadelphia Eagles in the preseason and enters Sunday’s opener at Cleveland as the No. 2 quarterback behind oft-injured Michael Vick. It’s only a matter of time for Foles, right?

“He’s a good player, so he’ll get a chance to throw,” Rodriguez said. “I hope Matt will be the next one.”

Perhaps the Cats can produce back-to-back NFL quarterbacks. Matt Scott, a fifth-year senior, will make his case this season.

“He’s definitely got a shot,” Smith said.

“He’s got good enough size (6-3, 196). His arm is strong enough; he can make all the throws. He has a quick delivery. As long as he keeps making sound decisions, everything fits into what they are looking for. He’ll have a shot.

“He can fit into a lot of systems and do a lot of stuff because he’s accurate.”

Smith said the difference between Michigan’s Denard Robinson and some of those other guys he and Rodriguez have coached (such as West Virginia’s Pat White) is that “Matt is more of a polished thrower.”

“And he has the added benefit that he can move. A lot of guys don’t move as well as he does.”

After Scott, who knows?

But just having Foles in the NFL is a start.

* * *

Here is a look at the quarterback totals from Pac-10 schools since the start of the 1974 season (ranked by passing yards), followed by a breakdown of each team:

(Source: pro-football-reference.com. Some quarterbacks played for more than one school in college and did not necessarily complete their eligibility with a Pac-10 team. Some quarterbacks have only partial career stats on this list, because anything before 1974 was eliminated.)

School G GS Cmp Att Yds TD Int Washington 840 618 11294 19358 135911 769 638 USC 743 486 8680 15135 103900 589 565 Stanford 672 463 7838 14085 96184 539 531 Arizona State 713 448 7790 14070 95374 558 580 UCLA 619 442 7551 13329 90138 506 457 Oregon 490 395 7324 12960 88044 502 492 California 524 391 6640 11540 81495 529 463 Washington State 416 333 6369 11385 75833 429 399 Oregon State 129 83 1537 2868 18357 104 116 Arizona 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 5146 3659 65023 114730 785236 4525 4241

* * *

Arizona State G GS Cmp Att Yds TD Int Jake Plummer 143 136 2484 4350 29253 161 161 Danny White 166 92 1761 2950 21959 155 132 Bill Kenney 106 77 1330 2430 17277 105 86 Mark Malone 73 53 839 1648 10175 60 81 Mike Pagel 132 54 756 1509 9414 49 63 Paul Justin 34 10 220 380 2614 8 10 Andrew Walter 15 9 174 333 1919 3 16 Bob Lee 29 13 153 314 1886 11 23 Todd Hons 3 3 43 92 552 5 5 Jeff Van Raaphorst 2 1 18 34 174 1 2 Dennis Sproul 6 0 5 13 87 0 0 Sandy Osiecki 4 0 7 17 64 0 1 Totals 713 448 7790 14070 95374 558 580

California G GS Cmp Att Yds TD Int Steve Bartkowski 129 127 1932 3456 24124 156 144 Craig Morton 108 98 1370 2480 17641 103 114 Aaron Rodgers 69 62 1381 2113 17366 132 38 Vince Ferragamo 75 53 902 1615 11336 76 91 Kyle Boller 67 47 861 1519 8931 48 54 Gale Gilbert 58 4 146 259 1544 9 12 Rich Campbell 7 0 31 68 386 3 9 Troy Taylor 7 0 12 20 125 2 1 Dave Barr 2 0 5 9 42 0 0 Perry Klein 2 0 0 1 0 0 0 Totals 524 391 6640 11540 81495 529 463

Oregon G GS Cmp Att Yds TD Int Dan Fouts 171 165 3210 5410 41914 248 229 Chris Miller 98 92 1580 2892 19320 123 102 Joey Harrington 81 76 1424 2538 14693 79 85 Kellen Clemens 28 12 195 375 2232 7 12 A.J. Feeley 28 18 425 762 4618 28 31 Akili Smith 22 17 215 461 2212 5 13 Tony Graziani 18 5 85 174 999 2 8 June Jones 17 5 75 166 923 3 7 Bill Musgrave 12 1 43 69 402 1 2 Bob Berry 11 1 37 54 329 5 1 Dennis Dixon 4 3 35 59 402 1 2 Totals 490 395 7324 12960 88044 502 492

Oregon State G GS Cmp Att Yds TD Int Derek Anderson 53 43 756 1436 9148 53 55 Matt Moore 35 25 437 739 5137 32 26 Craig Whelihan 19 14 267 557 3160 14 29 Erik Wilhelm 22 1 77 136 912 5 6 Totals 129 83 1537 2868 18357 104 116

Stanford G GS Cmp Att Yds TD Int John Elway 234 231 4123 7250 51475 300 226 Jim Plunkett 115 102 1423 2642 18978 124 140 Trent Edwards 37 33 561 927 6019 26 30 Steve Dils 106 27 504 972 5816 27 32 Turk Schonert 72 12 311 504 3788 11 20 Mike Boryla 23 19 272 519 2838 20 29 Chad Hutchinson 15 14 220 413 2466 11 11 Steve Stenstrom 17 10 177 314 1895 4 12 Jesse Freitas 13 7 98 219 1244 8 13 Babe Laufenberg 16 7 93 211 1057 5 11 Guy Benjamin 19 0 39 68 439 3 3 Randy Fasani 4 1 15 44 171 0 4 Todd Husak 1 0 2 2 -2 0 0 Totals 672 463 7838 14085 96184 539 531

UCLA G GS Cmp Att Yds TD Int Troy Aikman 165 165 2898 4715 32942 165 141 Jay Schroeder 118 99 1426 2808 20063 114 108 Steve Bono 88 42 934 1701 10439 62 42 Tommy Maddox 93 36 686 1200 8087 48 54 Billy Kilmer 46 41 545 1033 6827 57 42 J.P. Losman 45 33 564 952 6271 33 34 Cade McNown 25 15 281 515 3111 16 19 Tom Ramsey 28 5 108 214 1285 7 10 David Norrie 2 2 35 68 376 1 4 Rick Neuheisel 3 2 40 59 367 1 1 Matt Stevens 3 2 32 57 315 1 1 Bernard Quarles 1 0 1 3 40 1 1 Jeff Knapple 2 0 1 4 15 0 0 Totals 619 442 7551 13329 90138 506 457

USC G GS Cmp Att Yds TD Int Carson Palmer 107 106 2223 3545 25447 167 116 Rodney Peete 104 87 1344 2346 16338 76 92 Matt Cassel 69 54 1042 1767 11699 76 45 Vince Evans 100 39 704 1390 9485 52 74 Pat Haden 65 55 731 1363 9296 52 60 Mark Sanchez 47 47 782 1414 9209 55 51 Rob Johnson 48 29 494 806 5795 30 23 Paul McDonald 85 21 411 767 5269 24 37 Matt Leinart 31 18 350 608 3950 15 20 Sean Salisbury 40 12 318 577 3824 19 19 Mike Rae 28 8 124 249 1536 12 14 Todd Marinovich 8 8 104 205 1345 8 9 Scott Tinsley 3 2 48 86 637 3 4 Dennis Shaw 5 0 4 8 61 0 1 Rob Hertel 3 0 1 4 9 0 0 Totals 743 486 8680 15135 103900 589 565

Washington G GS Cmp Att Yds TD Int Warren Moon 208 203 3988 6823 49325 291 233 Mark Brunell 193 151 2761 4640 32072 184 108 Chris Chandler 180 152 2328 4005 28484 170 146 Steve Pelluer 65 30 548 974 6870 29 39 Hugh Millen 40 25 560 928 6440 22 35 Damon Huard 64 27 574 946 6303 33 26 Billy Joe Hobert 29 17 275 527 3371 23 25 Brock Huard 8 4 60 107 689 4 2 Cary Conklin 7 2 52 101 560 5 3 Marques Tuiasosopo 13 2 49 90 554 2 7 Jake Locker 5 0 34 66 542 4 0 Tom Flick 21 3 47 106 506 2 10 Cody Pickett 7 2 18 45 195 0 4 Totals 840 618 11294 19358 135911 769 638