Texas Longhorns: Tyrone Swoopes Final Chance?
It was a very difficult Thanksgiving night for the Texas Longhorns as they ended their regular season with a frustrating loss to the TCU Horned Frogs; however, as frustrating as it may have been for the fans, no one felt worse than quarterback Tyrone Swoopes.
When starter David Ash suffered a career-ending injury early in the season, Swoopes was called into action much earlier than anyone hoped.
It was an up-and-down season for Swoopes, who showed signs of becoming a capable leader of the Longhorns, but there were also some lows—none as low as Swoopes’s performance on Thanksgiving, which was undoubtedly the worst of the season. It was bad enough that even his biggest supporters began to doubt him and question his future at the position.
So what’s next for the sophomore quarterback? Will the upcoming AdvoCare V100 Texas Bowl be the last chance for him to prove that can belongs under center for the Longhorns?
I hope he’s been watching that tape wondering what the hell happened.
While much of that depends on the off-season development of five-star redshirt freshman Jerrod Heard and incoming freshman Zach Gentry (who won’t be on campus until the summer), head coach Charlie Strong offered a brief glimpse into Swoopes’s future earlier today. When asked about his young QB, Strong had this to say:
"I hope he’s (Swoopes)been watching that tape wondering what the hell happened. He just can’t turn the ball over…whenever the stage is set, you’ve got to perform on that stage, and he didn’t perform that night because everything was in line. You had a national audience. You had a top five team. You can’t turn the ball over. That cannot happen."
Strong went on to discuss how difficult it’s been for Tyrone to shake off his poor performances, particularly his latest. Quarterbacks are all going to have off-days, but they have to find a way to work through it and move on. As the old saying goes, “You can’t let a loss beat you twice.”
However, despite the way the regular season ended, the coaches aren’t ready to give up on Swoopes just yet. Though the staff still supports Swoopes, Strong told the media that there will certainly be an “open” competition at quarterback this spring.
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So does Swoopes’ future depend on December 29’s match-up against longtime Texas foe, the Arkansas Razorbacks?
In short, the answer is no, because whether or not he plays well, there will be competition this spring.
But if Heard, who will have just completed a redshirt season (something that Swoopes did not have the benefit of) and is thought by many to be the most talented quarterback on campus since Vince Young, lives up to his hype, Swoopes could very easily find himself on the outside looking in. On the other hand, even if Swoopes performs poorly in the bowl game, if neither Heard nor Gentry steps up to take over, Swoopes could be the Longhorns’ best option.
One thing is for certain: Longhorn fans can at least find solace in one thing.
Perhaps unlike previous staffs, Charlie Strong and company will make sure that the absolute best player is on the field. Period.