The Longhorns Future With Garrett Gilbert
Like so many others, I watched Texas lose to Alabama last night. When Colt McCoy went out after the Th play and went into the locker room, you could almost hear the air deflate out of Texas fans everywhere. Garrett Gilbert came in as a true freshman who took hardly snaps and barely got to throw a pass all season. I watched Garrett Play at Lake Travis High School and knew he had tremendous talent.
The play calling with Gilbert came in became ultra-conservative. I think the coaches were playing things very carefully waiting for Colt to go back into the game and that just didn't happen. When the team and the crowd realized Colt was done, the game could have been over for the Longhorns. The defense, which could have become very discouraged, played very well most of the game. The offense was flat and Garrett barely threw the ball until the third quarter. The intercepted shovel pass toward the end of the first half would have killed the confidence of most teams and I think many people expected Texas to come out flat in the second half.
But things changed. Somebody decided that the game could not be won unless they let Gilbert show his skills. Keep in mind that Gilbert thres for over 15,000 yard in high school and was the most highly recruited QB in the country. Keep in mind also that he was facing one of the toughest defenses in the country. So what happened? Texas let Gilbert throw the ball.
As you would expect from any rookie quarterback being thrust into a situation like last night, Gilbert made some mistakes, but he also showed remarkable poise. His receivers dropped too many passes, but Gilbert remained confident. He showed good judgment much of the time, throwing the ball at the receiver's feet or out of bounds when his guys were covered. He pulled the ball down and ran when he needed to. Gilbert lead the Longhorn offense down the field and threw two touchdown passes. Gilbert's stats didn't look good, but neither did the score. He completed 15 of 40 passes, but threw for almost 190 yards against a very tough pass defense. Gilbert threw 4 pics and had one fumble, but three of these turnovers were not his fault. The shovel pass was bobbled by the receiver, one interception was good defense and the fumble was because a lack of protection. His performance was better than what the stats show and the game was a whole lot closer on paper than the score indicated.
It will be tons of fun to watch Garrett Gilbert in the coming years. He is tall, strong, runs well, throws well and is very coachable. If he stays at UT for all 4 years I think we will see McCoy's records fall. If the Horns defense stays strong and the offense can protect Gilbert, he may develop into one of the greatest QBs the Longhorns have ever seen.