Three Texas quarterbacks the Longhorns should have stuck with
Ever since Colt McCoy left the program, Texas has not been a beacon of consistency at the quarterback position.
Outside of Sam Ehlinger, who went down as one of the best quarterbacks in program history statistically, Texas’ quarterback situation has been a sore subject throughout the past decade. One of the main reasons is the series of quarterback decisions that likely could have gone in the other direction.
Whether there was too short of a leash or maybe the wrong quarterback was chosen in the first place, there are three specific instances that stand out recently.
Here are the three quarterbacks that Texas should have stuck with who could have helped them win more games at that time. This isn’t to say that the quarterback that started over them didn’t go on to be better, but at the time it could have gone a different direction with the other passer at the helm.
Jerrod Heard (2015-2017)
Jerrod Heard was only a quarterback for one season under Charlie Strong, and it was evident that Strong wasn’t nearly as confident in Heard as many thought he should’ve been. In his best game, he displayed how great of an athlete he was. He single-handedly brought Texas back from being down 21 points against California. In the close loss thanks to a missed PAT, Heard broke Vince Young’s single-game record for total offense, accounting for 527 yards of total offense. He also led Texas to a win over No. 10 Oklahoma, which was much needed during a tumultuous stretch for Texas.
Unfortunately for Heard, he went down with an injury during camp, which opened the door for Tyrone Swoopes and eventual starter Shane Buechele to surpass him. Following Strong’s firing, Tom Herman came to town, which gave Heard truthers another cause of hope due to Herman’s success with Greg Ward at Houston. However, Heard ended up switching to receiver where he became a rotation piece behind a few NFL caliber pass catchers. If he stayed at quarterback and was given a chance to develop, he could have built off the major flashes he had in 2015.
Shane Buechele (2016-2018)
Heard’s decision to move to receiver left Shane Buechele and Swoopes to battle for the job. While Swoopes was a better runner, Buechele was a far better passer and was even praised for throwing the best deep ball in the Big 12. He showcased his talents in a double overtime win over Notre Dame, throwing for 280 yards on 16-for-26 passing for two touchdowns, which led to Texas jumping from unranked to No. 11. He finished his freshman season with 2,958 passing yards, 21 passing touchdowns and 11 interceptions, breaking McCoy’s record for passing yards by a freshman.
However, injuries to Buechele made way for a young Sam Ehlinger to assume the starting role. While he developed into a really good college quarterback, Buechele was a better passer. With all of the talent Texas had at receiver and given Buechele’s arm talent, its fair to wonder if Herman valued a running quarterback a little too much.
Hudson Card, (2020-2022)
Hudson Card fell victim to timing on multiple accounts. He caught the back end of Ehlinger’s tenure at Texas and then the arrival of Quinn Ewers. One could say that he if Card had played better, Ewers would have never came to Texas. But one could also say that Steve Sarkisian gave up far too early on Card. After leading Texas to a victory over a ranked Louisiana team, Card crumbled under pressure in Texas’ Week 2 game at Arkansas. Sarkisian not only pulled him in the game in favor of Casey Thompson, but ended up awarding the job to Thompson. Maybe a hastily made decision, but it was evident during spring drills that Sarkisian wasn’t confident enough in either passer to name a starter until late into fall camp.
Texas had a number of issues that season; it finished 5-7 and went on an historically long losing streak. But the leash for Card felt extremely short. Even when Thompson was visibly affected by his hand injury suffered against Oklahoma during what became a historic collapse, Sarkisian never seemed to trust Card again. In 2022, Card came in for an injured Ewers and played decently, but it didn’t matter. Ewers assumed the starting role the second he was healthy. There were also moments in 2022 when Card could have played better than how Ewers was playing, but again never really got the chance. He’s now at Purdue and only time will tell how good he can be, but he never seemed to get a fair shake in Austin.
