Tyrone Swoopes still Texas' starting QB after spring competition
Tyrone Swoopes is still Texas’ starting quarterback.
After Saturday’s spring game, coach Charlie Strong said Swoopes did nothing to lose his starting role and backup Jerrod Heard did nothing to change that.
“I don’t want to turn this into a quarterback controversy,” Strong said according to the Dallas Morning News. “When you look at it, Tyrone has come into the spring as a starter. I don’t know that Heard has done anything yet to unseat him as a starter. I said he’s closed the gap, which is what you want.
“Ty is still the No. 1 guy at this point.”
Swoopes finished the spring game completing 17 of his 31 passes for 159 yards. He had an interception called back by a penalty and a dropped pass in the end zone. He also threw a ball out of bounds that hit a young boy in the face. Strong made Swoopes check on the boy while medics attended to him. The boy was OK.
“I just told him that I was sorry,” Swoopes said. “I burned a ball out of bounds, and I caught him not paying attention. He looked pretty bummed about it.”
Strong said he expects Swoopes, a junior, to be better this season simply because the team around him is better. Texas spent the spring making improvements to the offensive line and changing the offense from a pro-style to an up-tempo spread attack that should play better in the offense-dominant Big 12.
As for Heard, a redshirt freshman, the Texas coaching staff was pleased with his progress this spring, but even he admitted he had a long way to go.
"The game is still fast for me," Heard said. "I really do have to have the team's confidence in me. My job is to show them that when my number is called, I'll be ready."
Heard, who is the more natural fit for the Longhorns’ up-tempo offense, completed 20 of 29 passes for 177 yards. He scrambled for a touchdown and scrambled to covert a fourth down that set up a field goal. But he also fumbled a snap, tossed an interception on an underthrown pass and had a potential interception dropped by a defender.
Strong said he hoped Swoopes would continue to progress throughout the summer so he would be the starter heading into the season opener against Notre Dame.
“The thing about it is I hope I don’t have to go into Notre Dame and start a redshirt freshman,” Strong said.
For more Texas news, visit Orangebloods.com.
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