Somewhere in the University of Florida football offices today, it is a decent bet they are scurrying to do two things in a hurry:

First, find out where-in-the-name-of-Mapquest the College of the Desert is and, second, get some video of the Roadrunners' high-scoring games from last season.

The reason for the urgency is Brent Rausch.

Rausch will be announced today as the starting quarterback for the University of Hawai'i's Aug. 30 season opener at Florida. If the Gators are like most everybody else, the choice will be a surprise. A bold pick to be sure and a stunner if you are viewing developments from 4,000 miles away.

Tyler Graunke, Colt Brennan's "air apparent" until an academic roadblock, was well known from the Sugar Bowl and Nevada games. Inoke Funaki, the favorite at the start of summer camp and two-year reserve, was nearly as visible. Even Greg Alexander, with two seasons of junior college competition, was somewhat on the radar.

But Rausch?

Until this week the sophomore had been running No. 3 in drills at UH and, truth be told, if Rausch had come out of witness protection he couldn't have been more of a mystery to a great many people.

It wasn't until last year as a redshirt freshman at COD in Palm Desert, Calif., where he threw for more than 2,600 yards and 28 touchdowns, that Rausch played 11-man football. His previous experience had been as a three-year starter at Desert Chapel Christian School, then a 90-student private school where he played both ways on the eight-man football team.

That UH found the 6-foot-4, 190-pound Rausch in the first place much less became quickly captivated was remarkable. Feats the Gators might come to appreciate as they seek to unearth video of Rausch to study.

If they'd seen Rausch in practice this week they'd have glimpsed a player rapidly coming on in proficiency and confidence. Someone the coaches are growing more comfortable with by the day.

When Rausch ends up as the starter against fifth-ranked Florida, it will not only be one of the most interesting opening game choices in UH history but surely one of the biggest jumps for the player making it.

Consider that Rausch played his JC home games in a stadium seating 1,000. Actual crowds were probably a hundred times smaller than what will scream back at him in two weeks in The Swamp, where capacity is listed at 88,548.

If you're going to make a leap of faith with someone, perhaps UH reasoned: Who more appropriate than a quarterback from a church school?

Reach Ferd Lewis at flewis@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8044.