College Football Rumors: Do the Texas Longhorns really have a quarterback controversy?
Everyone knows the old football saying: If you have two quarterbacks, then you don’t have any.
Just a few days ago, Texas Longhorns head coach Mack Brown raised eyebrows when he suggested that no starter has been named in the starting quarterback race, and suggested that true sophomore David Ash and junior Case McCoy could again be sharing quarterback duties this fall.
But is this really the case, or is it simply a case of coach-speak? After all, no one is better at coach speak than Mack Brown.
Last season, then-true freshman David Ash was thrown into the fire after then-starter Garrett Gilbert struggled mightily from the off-set, was benched, underwent season-ending shoulder surgery, then elected to transfer to SMU. Though Ash too had a difficult time, it is important to remember that he entered into the season as the 3rd string back-up and didn’t receive the practice reps a starting quarterback should receive until nearly a month into the season.
After Ash’s first start, both he and McCoy shared the QB responsibilities for the rest of the season.
However, when David Ash received 100% of the snaps as Case McCoy watched on during the Longhorns’ bowl game vs. the California Golden Bears in the Holiday Bowl, it was widely believed that Ash would be the Longhorns starting quarterback for the foreseeable future.
Though Ash didn’t provide a jaw-dropping performance in the bowl game, he led the team to victory by managing the offense, garnering offensive MVP honors in the process. Fortunately, with all the playmakers on the Texas offense this season, that is all that is needed from the Texas QB this year as well.
Now, as Mack Brown tries to convince fans that there is not yet a starter, reports from sources close to the program have Ash receiving 70% of the reps during spring practice and summer and running the 1st team offense the majority of the time.
So, despite what Brown tells us, it appears that in reality, Ash is the starting quarterback heading into the season.
Of course, that isn’t to say that Case won’t be used in certain situations. And if Ash starts to struggle early in the season, coaches will likely not hesistate to see what McCoy can do.
But based on the end of last season and the reports out of spring and summer, David Ash, for now, appears to be the guy.
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Where there’s smoke there’s fire, but Ash should NOT be the Texas Starter.
Case is better statistically and is way better with leadership and intangibles. He showed flashes of it factor last year and Ash did not. Ash lacks leadership, heart, and passion and was 157th in the country in efficiency to Case’s 67th. Not to mention that he was 7% less accuarate than McCoy and threw twice as many interceptions and 1 less than half the TD’s of McCoy. Both need improvement, but Case gives us the best chance to win.
The media wants Ash and Mack is a people pleaser who is still trying to start his Simms over Applewhite scenario and make it work. Ash will not lead this team to victory and hopefully will be on a short leash. Mack never gave Case a fair try out and is lucky he is a team guy and didn’t transfer.
QB’s have been mismanaged since Colt left. GG should have had to fight for his job (S Harris would have probably started) the first year and never should have started past mid-season when it was apparent that he wasn’t going to turn the corner. Case should have been the starter since mid-point freshman year but definitely since BYU. We would be in a much better place than hoping Ash’s “upside” kicks in or having the two of them in rotation.
I realize that I am bucking a head wind on this, but I am not afraid to stand alone.