Holland Crew Football

Freshmen Connor Wood and Case McCoy still have that new quarterback smell.

Garrett Gilbert needs to be covered in bubble wrap.

Immediately.

The Longhorns are a twisted knee, a tweaked ankle, maybe even a bad night on Sixth Street away from playing a true freshman at quarterback.

Sherrod Harris “retired” from football last week. You can’t blame him. He said he needs to focus on his studies so that he can graduate. That’s certainly understandable. And after working his tail off for four years, I’m sure the prospect of handing the ball off in garbage time wasn’t his ideal version of a senior year.

But that leaves the Longhorns with freshmen Connor Wood and Case McCoy battling for the backup quarterback position. Luckily, both were early enrollees in the spring, but pardon me if I don’t feel exactly comfortable with this idea.

Call me old school, but I’m of the firm opinion that freshmen should spend their first semester of college focused on two things – finding their classes and purchasing fake IDs.  Not preparing to play quarterback for the #4 team in the country.

Last season, Texas also had a true freshman backup (Gilbert). But the difference here is that he earned that right. He outplayed Harris, a junior. He was coming off back-to-back state championships and had set the all-time passing record for the State of Texas. He was the Gatorade and Parade National Player of the Year. He was USA Today’s Offensive Player of the Year.

He was pretty good – unusually good – for a freshman.

None of this is to say that Wood and McCoy couldn’t become great players at UT. But last year Wood played against private school competition in Houston and McCoy led a 3-A team in Graham, Texas.

That does not exactly make them ready to face Oklahoma in the Cotton Bowl or Nebraska in Lincoln.

Garrett Gilbert Instructions: Handle with Care. Keep out of defenders' reach. Don't even look at him funny.

The media consensus is that Wood will eventually earn the backup spot, but the coaches have yet to make that call. In the last few years, we’ve seen true freshmen thrown into some tough spots. Chris Simms at Texas A&M. Jevan Snead at Kansas State. Garrett Gilbert in the FREAKING NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP GAME.

All losses.

Why has this happened? Why is a perennial Top 5 team like Texas forced to deal with freshmen as backups?

Blame Vince Young. Blame Colt McCoy. Heck, you can even blame Garrett Gilbert.

If you were a five-star, nationally ranked quarterback coming out of high school when these guys were heading into their sophomore or junior year, and you knew you’d be relegated to the bench for two or three years, would you have picked Texas? Or would you go somewhere you could compete for playing time right away?

Most players at that level don’t want to wait around these days. Ryan Perrilloux, anyone? Wait. Bad example. He sucked.

So give props to Wood and McCoy. They knew that Gilbert would be the man for as long as he decides to stay on the 40 Acres. And they chose to come anyway. I’m sure they both planned on redshirting, but not now.

Either one of them could be a play away from taking the field this season. But (and no offense here fellas), we are all praying like crazy that it never happens.  Ever.

Is someone making sure Garrett takes vitamins? Is it too early for a flu shot?

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