Texas Longhorns Football Report Card: Quarterback

Now that the Texas Longhorns football season is over, it’s time to look back at the 2014 season and review the different positions and how each fared. HookemHeadlines will analyze each position, and how it performed throughout the year.

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We start at the most recognizable, and criticized, position – quarterback.

Texas fans knew coming into the season that David Ash was one hit away from finishing the season on the sidelines. For most, it was a matter of when, not if, he would get hurt. Simply put, with Ash at quarterback Charlie Strong was playing with fire.

Sure enough, he got burned.

On a play against North Texas that 99.99% of Texas fans would never have guessed would be the hit to end his career, Ash’s days on the field were done. What should have been a nice tune up for the BYU game turned out to be just the beginning of a nightmarish season for the Longhorns.

Enter Tyrone Swoopes.

If fans were displeased with Swoopes’ performance in the annual Orange-White Spring game, it wouldn’t get much better during the regular season. The sophomore looked lost and had no confidence throwing the ball early in the season. Many of his completions were passes thrown around the line of scrimmage. This is great for the pass completion percentage, but doesn’t help you move the offense down field when your passes gets you three yards on 3^rd and 6 plays. Teams stacked the box, daring him to throw deep. When he did, he often missed his receivers, or threw into coverage.

Dec 29, 2014; Houston, TX, USA; Texas Longhorns quarterback Tyrone Swoopes (18) reacts during the game against the Arkansas Razorbacks in the 2014 Texas Bowl at NRG Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kevin Jairaj-USA TODAY Sports

To be fair, it was a no-win situation for Swoopes. He should have redshirted in 2013. He should have spent the 2014 season holding a clipboard while developing his craft in practice. Swoopes simply wasn’t ready to take on a new offense so early in the season. He was behind the eight ball all year.

And there were moments when fans thought Swoopes was turning the corner. He played better than anyone could have expected against Oklahoma. He had an interception returned for a touchdown, but he played well enough for Texas to nearly pull off the upset. The next week versus Iowa State he threw two beautiful balls to Jaxon Shipley and John Harris to set up the game-winning field goal. In the game against Oklahoma State Swoopes completed 73 percent of his passes and had two touchdowns in a win that clinched a bowl game for Texas.

Unfortunately, there were plenty of clunkers. He was unable to generate any points while completing less than 50 percent of his passes against Baylor. Kansas State confused him so much the offense was stagnant the whole game. Texas suffered its first shut out of the season that day. The TCU game was perhaps his worst performance of the season to that point. Swoopes had five turnovers against the Horned Frogs. It was odd to see a quarterback, with so many games under his belt, look his worst in the last game of the regular season.

Actually, the worst was yet to come.

The Arkansas game was pretty much unwatchable. Somehow Swoopes managed to find a way to make the TCU game look palatable. He threw for a grand total of 57 yards. Most quarterbacks have that many passing yards by at least the early part of the second quarter. The Razorback defense harassed Swoopes all night. There was no where for number 18 to hide that night.

It’s tough to lay the blame entirely at Swoopes’ feet. Mack Brown didn’t do him any favors in 2013 with sporadic playing time. Strong was forced to work with what was available to him. He had to hand the reigns to a player who wasn’t ready for the role. Unfortunately, in order to protect prized recruit Jerrod Heard’s redshirt, Swoopes had to endure a tough season under center.

June 30, 2013; Beaverton, OR, USA; Jerrod Heard, of Denton, Texas, passes the ball during the morning session of the Elite 11 at Nike World Headquarters. Mandatory Credit: Steve Dykes-USA TODAY Sports

Going into 2015 Strong still doesn’t know what he has behind Swoopes. By all reports, Heard progressed throughout the season, but not fast enough to give the Texas head coach pause to start him. Zach Gentry is an intriguing prospect, but he won’t be on campus until the summer. No graduate transfer has come forward as a possible bridge to Heard or Gentry. It looks to be Swoopes and Heard battling it out for the starting quarterback job.

Texas fans can only put 2014 behind them, and hope that 2015 brings more stability to the position.

Grade: D-

Next: Running Back

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