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RALEIGH - Listen to Harrison Beck discuss his life in football and you swear Johnny Cash is laying down the soundtrack.

He's been everywhere. He's been to Lakeland, Lincoln, N.C. State and Nebraska. Been through West Coast Offense and Bible's Book. Starting chance, virtually no chance. All that's missing is some tall tale about Texas.

"He's more of the wild man, the gunslinger," wide receiver T.J. Graham said.

"He can wing it around," as coach Tom O'Brien put it this week.

Motion and excitement are more than liner notes here.

"I'm going to throw it where I'm going to throw it," Beck said this week as his team prepared to face 13th-ranked South Florida on Saturday night. "If it gets picked off, then the next play comes and I'll throw it again."

Beck, who competed for the starting job in August, lost out and wondered if he'd play, is happy he stuck around. Russell Wilson has suffered a second injury and Beck, who looked good in a win over William & Mary on Sept. 6, is the starter. The Wolfpack (2-2) is facing another top-15 team after dispatching similarly acclaimed East Carolina last week, and the trigger man takes on a group with ties to his past.

"I know a few people on the team," he said of the Bulls. "I'll be familiar. It's 20 minutes from my house."

Beck's house is in Clearwater, Fla., a prime breeding ground for football players. Beck attended the same camps as Matt Grothe, a kid from Lakeland who runs USF's offense, but never seriously considered playing for the Bulls.

He was intrigued by coach Bill Callahan's pass-happy concepts at Nebraska. As a true freshman, Beck was the backup to another well-traveled QB, former Wake Forest Demon Deacon Zac Taylor. In the season's 10th game, he was thrust into the lineup.

"Zac Taylor goes in on '200 Jet Lion' and decides to tuck it and run," Beck said, recalling the nomenclature of the Huskers' play book. "He might be the slowest white guy on Earth. He gets destroyed by a linebacker from Kansas State and gets knocked out.

"Coach leans to me to go in. I had just turned 18. There are 88,000 people there. Coach Callahan calls 'Trey Right 72 Special' and X on a go route. He says, 'I don't care if he's open; I want you to throw it as far as you can.' And I did that. But I don't think it went on the field. I think it went into the stands."

Beck played the rest of the way and completed only one pass, but that one set up the winning field goal in the final seconds. It would be his only real individual excitement at Nebraska, from which he transferred after the season.

Again, connections were relevant.

Among N.C. State's seniors in 2005 was Jay Davis, whose father, John, had coached Beck in high school. Beck was on the move and had found a new home.

"I have a good foundation here," he said. "I want to keep building on that. Years from now is when it will be really important."

That's why he didn't seriously consider bagging football when Wilson won the job and Daniel Evans was named the backup. Beck played in four games of 2007 for the Wolfpack before getting hurt, but his nine interceptions in 160 attempts were somewhat troublesome.

There was no denying Beck's propensity to evade rushers, his ability to throw the ball to Cary or an unflappable personality. It also was nice to work with the same offensive coordinator, Dana Bible, for a second year.

Beck got his first chance this season when Wilson went down with a concussion in the first week and Evans was ineffective against William & Mary. Beck's 17-for-25, 246-yard relief effort didn't unseat a healthy Wilson for the next game, but it elevated him on the depth chart. And in a season of ridiculous injury-related misfortune for State, that meant something.

"It has definitely been an interesting couple of weeks," Beck said. "Russell has been a great leader for us. I have no ill wishes against him. For me, it does feel good to play this week."

East Carolina intercepted Beck's only pass last week and returned it for a touchdown. He didn't lose any sleep over it.

"You can't do that," he said. "If you do that, then you start to get jittery. You start gripping the ball tighter. And the next thing you know, you're going to throw it straight into the ground.

"I've played quarterback. It's a position. You're going to get picked off. You're going to fumble. You go to the next play."

Contact Rob Daniels at 373-7028 or rob.daniels@news-record.com