Texas Football: 10 best quarterbacks all-time for the Longhorns

10. Chris Simms (1999-2002)

You won’t find many Texas quarterbacks that had more hype as a recruit or put up better numbers over the course of two seasons, where he doesn’t get much recognition for it, than Chris Simms. As Texas’ starting quarterback in 2001 and 2002, Simms seemed to always put up efficient numbers, but he hit a wall when it mattered most.

Simms went 0-3 in his three games as a starter against Oklahoma in Red River. That’s not going to please Longhorns fans in the slightest.

But you can’t overlook the nearly 6,000 passing yards, 48 passing touchdowns, 23 interceptions, and 10 rushing scores that Simms registered in his last two seasons with the Longhorns. Those are fantastic numbers, which led Simms to register the fourth-best passer efficiency rating of any quarterback in program history.

9. Eddie Phillips (1969-1971)

Some of the best seasons in program history came under the direction of former head coach Darrell Royal and starting quarterback Eddie Phillips in the late 1960s and early 1970s. Philips wasn’t Texas’ starting quarterback in 1969, but he did take some snaps on a national-title winning team that season.

Texas also had a special 1970 campaign when Phillps and the Longhorns were just one game away from winning a national title. That was the first season for Phillips as Texas’ starting quarterback.

Phillips and the Longhorns fell short to the No. 6 Notre Dame Fighting Irish in the Cotton Bowl on Jan. 1, 1971, which led to the team falling short of winning another National Championship.

But that doesn’t take away from the immense success that Phillips found with the Longhorns. Texas was still solid during the 1971 season when they won eight games and still finished in the top 20 in the AP Poll.