Joel Klatt

2005 Media Guide Bio:

AT COLORADO: This Season (Sr.)—CU’s starting quarterback, with 22 career starts at the position (12-10), the 10th most at CU by a signalcaller; he could tie for the most if he starts 13 games this fall. An honorable mention preseason All-American by Street & Smith’s (he’s also on the FWAA’s modest checklist), he should also be both a Davey O’Brien and Johnny Unitas award candidate; Phil Steele’s College Football ranked him as the No. 22 QB in the nation. He won the inaugural Eddie Crowder Award this past spring, presented by the CU coaches for outstanding leadership. He has a chance to take over almost all of the school’s major passing records, as he enters his senior season at Colorado fifth all-time in passing yards (4,679), second in attempts (695) and completions (425), first in completion percentage (61.2), fifth in touchdown passes (30) and tied for sixth in interceptions (25); he’s also seventh in total offense (4,546). His career completion percentage of 61.9 (including bowls) is currently the 12th best among active NCAA quarterbacks, while his 208.8 yards per game is 16th and his efficiency rating of 127.7 is 25th. He has 10 career 200-yard passing games, five of which have exceeded 300 yards (Koy Detmer holds the school record of six). He has seven career fourth quarter comebacks to win or tie games: 2003 vs. Colorado State (tie to W); 2003 vs. UCLA (trailed to W); 2003 vs. Kansas (trailed, sent into and won in OT); 2004 vs. Colorado State (tie to W); 2004 at Texas A&M (trailed to OT loss); 2004 vs. Kansas State (tie to W); and in the 2004 Houston Bowl vs. UTEP (trailed to W).

2004 (Jr.)—He started 12 games including the Houston Bowl and played in all 13 (he came off the bench against Iowa State), as he continued to zoom up CU’s charts in every statistic for a quarterback. He struggled at times as the offensive line developed chemistry, and while he didn’t have the same numbers he posted as a sophomore, he still put up some decent statistics. He completed 192-of-334 passes (57.5%) for 2,065 yards and nine touchdowns, but threw 15 interceptions, the second most in a single-season at Colorado. It was the 10th time a quarterback threw for 2,000 yards in a season for CU, the second time for Klatt; in fact, only five players have accomplished the feat: Kordell Stewart did it three times, Klatt, John Hessler and Mike Moschetti twice and Koy Detmer once. He set eight school records, including attempts (334), completions (192) and completions in a game (26) by a junior, and his 196 yards passing and total offense in the second quarter against North Texas set record for the most of each in quarter by any player. He completed 26-of-33 passes for 371 yards against UNT, with the 78.8 completion percentage for the game setting school marks for 20, 25 and 30 attempts in a game. He also passed for over 200 yards on three other occasions: he had 346 at Texas A&M and 222 at Nebraska; the other came against UTEP in the Houston Bowl, when he was named the game’s offensive MVP. In that one, he completed 24-of-33 passes for 333 yards and two scores. Against A&M, he recorded his first career reception (18 yards on a throwback from Bernard Jackson). A two-time selection by the coaches as the team’s offensive back of the week (North Texas, Texas A&M). He was on the official watch list for the Davey O’Brien Award (one of 42 candidates), and Street & Smith’s selected him as an honorable mention preseason All-American. He was placed on full scholarship in January, the earliest allowed by the NCAA due to situational issues, after being a walk-on for his first two seasons on the team.

2003 (Soph.)—In earning honorable mention all-Big 12 honors from the league coaches, he set 19 school records and tied one more in being named the newcomer of the year in the state by the Colorado Chapter of the National Football Foundation and College Football Hall of Fame. He was the John Mack Award winner for CU’s outstanding offensive player as selected by the coaches, won the Best Interview Award as selected by the school’s beat media, and was CU’s offensive back of the week for four games (CSU, UCLA, Kansas and Iowa State). For the year, he completed 233-of-358 passes for 2,614 yards and 21 touchdowns, setting school marks for attempts and completions while throwing the second most TD passes in a single year in becoming the third Buff to throw for over 2,500 yards in a season. His 65.1 completion percentage set school records for every 50 pass increment over 100 attempts, and he was consistent across the board, completing 65.4 percent on first down, 66.1 on second down and 63.5 on third and fourth down (48 of 66 third and fourth down completions earned first downs). He had 426 total plays, also a school record, for 2,523 yards, the sixth most in school annals. He earned 128 first downs (11 rush, 117 pass) as he led the Buffs to 41 scores in 122 drives he engineered. He threw for 200 or more yards six times and completed over 52.0 percent of his passes in all but one game (Baylor, when he was 3-of-8, also the lone game he did not have at least one touchdown pass). He scored one touchdown rushing (against Kansas), as he rushed 39 times for 97 yards when not accounting for sacks. He enjoyed perhaps one of the best debuts as a starting quarterback in Colorado history, if not NCAA history in CU’s 42-35 win over Colorado State in Denver. He completed 21-of-34 passes for 402 yards and four touchdowns (and no interceptions), in posting a single-game quarterback rating of 199.9, the second best rating in CU history for a game with 30 or more attempts. The 402 yards passing tied for the sixth most in a single game in school history at the time (he topped it with 419 against Kansas), and were the third most in a starting debut, bested only by Koy Detmer’s 418 against Oklahoma and Kordell Stewart’s 409 against Colorado State—both coming in 1992. It was also the first 300yard passing game by a Buff quarterback since 2001 and the first 400yard effort since Mike Moschetti set the school record with 465 against San Jose State in 1999, with his four touchdown passes marking just the ninth time in school annals that many had been thrown in a single game. He also led the Buffs to a pair of touchdowns in the two-minute drill: he tossed a 45-yard scoring strike to John Donahoe with 29 seconds left in the first half, and then engineered a 6-play, 75-yard drive that led to the winning score with 0:40 left in the game. He garnered all kinds of honors for his effort against the Rams, as The Sporting News, SI.com and collegefootballnews.com cited him as the National Player of the Week with the Big 12 Conference naming him its Offensive Player of the Week. Prior to suffering a shoulder injury against Washington State, he put together a streak of 92 consecutive passes without an interception—the sixth longest in school history—with the skein snapped on his first throw in his next game, in the fourth quarter at Baylor in an attempt to rally CU to victory. After missing two starts (Florida State, Baylor) with a sprained shoulder, he returned with a vengeance in throwing for 419 yards over Kansas. In setting CU single-game records for attempts (54) and completions (38), he led the Buffs to a third game winning or tying drive in the fourth quarter, completing 4-of-6 passes for 56 yards and ran for six more on CU’s 11-play, 89-yard drive that led to Mason Crosby’s 23yard field goal. His two 400-plus yard games represent the fourth and fifth most passing yards in a game by a walk-on (or former walk-on) in NCAA Division I history. Against No. 1 Oklahoma, he completed 24-of-33 passes for 187 yards and three touchdowns, with his 72.7 completion percentage the fifth best in school history in a game where a QB attempted 30 or more passes. He had entered the fall slightly ahead in the battle to be the starting quarterback, and the coaches named him such just after the midway point of camp. He had a good spring running CU’s offense, and was really adept at limiting mistakes (he threw just one interception and didn’t take a sack in the three main spring scrimmages).

2002 (Fr.)—He played in three games, against Baylor late in some mop-up duty at quarterback, and in two others (Missouri, Iowa State) on the punt return team as a rusher/blocker. He threw three passes against the Bears, all falling incomplete. He was one of 11 “recruited” walk-ons that joined the team for August camp; he became one of three true freshmen walk-ons to play in 2002, but they are in a group of only four who have done so dating back to 1986. He was the Scout Team Offense Award winner for the Colorado State game.
PROFESSIONAL BASEBALL—He played two seasons of minor league baseball, and was in spring training in 2001 and 2002 with the San Diego Padres. He was selected as a third baseman by the Padres with their 11th round pick of the 2000 amateur baseball draft, and joined Class A Peoria that summer, where he led the team in doubles with 12, as he batted .209 with one home run and 15 runs batted in. He was with Idaho Falls in 2001 (2 HR, 10 RBI, 3 SB) and would have been on the Eugene roster in 2002 had he stayed with baseball. He reported to spring training, but told himself that if he didn’t land on the Fort Wayne team (high Aball) and would have to remain in Arizona for extended spring training, he would give college football a try. Klatt’s former minor league baseball teammate, Jake Peavy, claimed the 2004 earned run average title in major league baseball. A pitcher with the San Diego Padres, he finished with a 15-6 record and 2.27 ERA; the two spent two spring trainings together in the Padres organization (2000, 2001) and were teammates in A-ball at one juncture.

HIGH SCHOOL—He was a two-time, first-team all-Jefferson County performer at quarterback, earning second-team all-state honors as a senior. As a senior, he completed 78-of-125 passes (62.4%) for 1,250 yards and 16 touchdowns. On defense as a junior, he had four interceptions playing in the secondary. Pomona was 5-5 his senior year and 10-3 his junior year, winning the Jefferson County league championship, under coach Gary Klatt (his father). He also lettered three times in basketball (guard), earning second-team all-conference honors as a senior. In baseball, as primarily a shortstop, he earned first-team all-state and all-conference honors as a senior, helping PHS to a runner-up finish in the state tournament. He set several school records, including ones for home runs (10), runs batted in (46), slugging percentage (1.126) and hits (52). He also set three summer school records, in homers (26), RBI’s (99) and in slugging (1.147).

ACADEMICS—He is majoring in economics at Colorado.

PERSONAL—He was born February 4, 1982 in Arvada, Colo. Hobbies include playing golf (he breaks 80 with regularity), learning the guitar and being an avid Boston Red Sox fan. An older brother (Jason) played collegiate and minor league baseball. He married the former Sara Ordway this past May.