Garrett Gilbert was supposed to step right in and be the next great quarterback at the University of Texas. He set all sorts of records in high school, was the National Player of the Year his senior year, and was a consensus top 5 prospect on all recruiting boards. Gilbert got to sit and watch one of the best and most efficient quarterbacks in Texas history in Colt McCoy for a full year. He even got a little experience when McCoy got injured in the National Championship game against Alabama. His stats weren't that good for the game, as he had 4 interceptions, but his play was promising. He almost led Texas back to a victory before the game was blown back open by turnovers. Little did Gilbert know that game would be the highlight of his career at Texas.
He was given the opportunity to start the next season during his sophomore campaign. Everyone waited on him to just come around and become a star, but that moment never came. Garrett put up lackluster numbers the entire season by throwing 17 interceptions and having only 10 passing touchdowns. On top of all of that Texas finished the season 5-7, their first losing season since 1997, and the first in the Mack Brown era.
But now the folks in Austin are fed up with it. Last week against BYU Gilbert had only 2 completions on 8 attempts, and had already thrown 2 picks. His Longhorns were down 13-0, and he was booed off the field. That is when the Garrett Gilbert era ended at the University of Texas. Mack Brown had no choice but to try something new.
Texas eventually came back and won the game against BYU 17-16 thanks to Case McCoy, younger brother of Colt McCoy, and David Ash. The two combined to throw 9 of 11 for 92 yards, and Ash added 39 yards rushing. These two both looked much better than Gilbert, which is why so many believe he will never take another snap at Texas.
Texas isn't done with this quarterback shuffle just yet. We have seen in the past that the 2 quarterback system doesn't work all that well, so Mack might want to find out which 
quarterback he wants to commit to. Based on what I saw in the game that quarterback should be Case McCoy. He was much more accurate than Ash, and seemed to have a better feel for the offense. Not only that, but he also has the respect of his teammates. As soon as he came into the game he said, "I need y'all guys to trust me". After the game he said, "That's one thing I had to tell them was to calm down. We have been playing this game since we were in the seventh grade. Who cares if there is 100,000 people out there? Just play your game and play hard." Case reminds me a lot of his older brother Colt. Both were just skinny kids when arriving on campus, but more importantly they are both accurate, and they are both good game managers. Case is not near as good as Colt was just yet, but who knows how good he could become in this system.
It seems as if the team responded to McCoy, and now they believe in him. He is only the co-starter right now, but I believe by the time they meet Oklahoma in the Dallas, he will be the lone starting quarterback. So you may just be in luck Longhorn fans. McCoy could just be the spark that this Texas offense needs, but only time will tell. If Saturday's game was any sign of things to come, Texas could be back to the top sooner than we think.
Back to the Texas Longhorns Newsfeed