INDIANAPOLIS — Midway through the third quarter of last week’s home opener against Minnesota, Andrew Luck found himself alone in his own end zone facing Vikings defensive end Brian Robison.

A sack would change the momentum of the game with the Indianapolis Colts protecting a 20-6 lead, and Robison seemed to have Luck dead to rights.

The defender hadn’t bought a fake to rookie running back Vick Ballard at the start of the play, and now there was nothing standing between him and the Colts’ rookie quarterback.

Nothing, that is, except for Luck’s uncanny instincts and maneuverability.

As Robison bore down with malice in his heart, Luck simply stepped quickly to his side.

The Viking grabbed briefly at his jersey, found no purchase and flailed away in the opposite direction.

Luck threw the ball away, saving two points in a game Indianapolis eventually won by just three and setting a 64-yard field-position flipping punt by Pat McAfee.

Luck’s ability to make plays with his feet is one of the most underrated aspects of his game.

Through two weeks, the Indianapolis Colts rookie quarterback has shown strong pocket presence, more than adequate athleticism and a surprising level of escapability.

None of those things help Colts head coach Chuck Pagano rest easier when he sees Luck leave the pocket.

“You love a guy that can extend plays, but much like Ben (Roethlisberger) in Pittsburgh, you see when you do it too much and you try to extend too long those hits add up,” Pagano said. “We always talk about getting hits on the quarterback. You love sacks, but the hits add up through the course of the game and the course of a season. So we’ll continue to make a point of emphasis with Andrew as far as extending plays and getting first downs when he can get first downs, but certainly we’d love for him to get out of bounds, slide, throw the ball away whenever possible.”

Luck has been sacked five times through the season’s first two games, and he’s been hit on countless other occasions. Some of that is the nature of being a quarterback in what has become an increasingly pass-happy NFL.

Defenses are being built around a dominant pass rusher or two, and the goal is to get to the signal caller early and often.

But Luck also has the third-most carries on the team (6), and he’s second in rushing yards for Indianapolis with 30.

Many of those rushes have come on plays when the pocket has collapsed, and the quarterback has escaped to keep a drive alive. He picked up two first downs running out of the pocket against Minnesota and was awarded a third after he was hit out of bounds by Vikings defensive end Jared Allen on another attempt.

He’s rushed often enough already this season to understand it’s not the way he wants to make his living in the future.

“I think I realized that one hit in the NFL is equivalent to about 10 in college,” Luck said. “Try and minimize those. As a quarterback, you don’t have to prove your toughness by running people over. It’s much more important to take care of your body and slide.”

Luck rushed for 957 yards during his three seasons at Stanford, and he famously ran over a Southern Cal defender on one carry as a sophomore.

He’s never been afraid to mix things up, making a tackle in the same game against the Trojans and forcing a fumble immediately following a Cardinal turnover.

On one of his first-down runs last week against Minnesota, Luck dove head first to make certain he reached the ball past the marker instead of taking the safer route and leading with his feet.

But discretion often is the better part of valor in the NFL, and Pagano believes Luck is smart enough to grasp that concept.

“I’ve seen it a couple times,” the coach said of a proper slide from his precocious quarterback. “He went head first last weekend I think to get that first down, but he’s a good enough athlete to get that (feet-first slide) down.”

One area in which Luck’s athleticism already has become a major factor is the two-minute offense.

The Colts have had three two-minute drills so far. Luck drove the team from his own 22-yard line to Chicago’s 19 before Adam Vinatieri missed a 38-yard field goal just before halftime in the season opener.

Last week against the Vikings, the rookie capped a short drive just before the half with a 30-yard touchdown pass to veteran wide receiver Reggie Wayne. He later took Indianapolis 45 yards in just 23 seconds to set up Vinatieri’s game-winning 53-yard field goal.

Luck’s become adept at sliding the pocket away from the oncoming pass rush, keeping his eyes downfield and making big plays quickly in tight situations.

It’s another example of the 23-year-old’s rapid growth in his first professional season.

“I think he’s already full-grown,” Colts offensive coordinator Bruce Arians said. “It’s just a matter of showing everyone else that he’s way beyond his years in that (two-minute) phase of the game.”

Luck already is savvy enough to understand he has to balance his desire to make plays with the need for him to remain healthy and help the team.

Indianapolis doesn’t want to take the running threat out of his game, the team just wants to make sure it’s not a regular habit.

“I think I know that there are players much more capable of running on this team than I am so let’s get the ball in those guys’ hands,” Luck said.