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Texas Football: 5 best quarterbacks in program history

By Andrew Miller

(Photo by Brian Bahr/Getty Images for PLAYERS INC)
(Photo by Brian Bahr/Getty Images for PLAYERS INC) /
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23 Sep 1995: James Brown #5 of the Texas Longhorns runs with the ball during the game against the Notre Dame Fighting Irish at the Notre Dame Stadium at Notre Dame, Indiana. The Fighting Irish defeated the Longhorns 55-27. Mandatory Credit: J.D. Cuban /Allsport
23 Sep 1995: James Brown #5 of the Texas Longhorns runs with the ball during the game against the Notre Dame Fighting Irish at the Notre Dame Stadium at Notre Dame, Indiana. The Fighting Irish defeated the Longhorns 55-27. Mandatory Credit: J.D. Cuban /Allsport /

James Brown saw the move for Texas between the Southwest Conference over to the Big 12 in 1996, and still continued to thrive. This was not the best quarterback statistically in program history, but that career stat line he posted wasn’t too shabby.

In that transition between the Southwest Conference and the Big 12, Brown played a key role in making a huge splash for the Horns in 1996. Texas faced the No. 3 ranked Nebraska Cornhuskers in the first ever Big 12 Championship Game, and he helped the team pull off a huge upset to win the conference title.

Similar to Applewhite, the best seasons for Brown came between his freshman and junior campaigns. His senior season saw him throw five touchdown passes to 11 interceptions. Compared to the production levels from his freshman season where he tossed 12 touchdowns and only two interceptions, that was a big flip.

Brown also played under the last head football coach for Texas before Mack Brown took over, in John Mackovic. He should also be given some credit for kicking off a tremendous era of gun slinging quarterbacks for the Horns carry all the way through Colt McCoy’s departure after the 2009 season.

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