Going into the annual spring game on April 1st, you didn’t need a PhD to know what the biggest question facing the University of Texas Longhorns football team was. The question, however, wasn’t who will replace Vince Young, because – the logic goes – Young is irreplaceable.
More pointedly, it asked: Who would lead the Longhorn offense next season?
Last week, two young men took the field during the annual Texas Orange-White scrimmage hoping to answer that question.
Colt McCoy, a red shirt freshman, seems to be the obvious candidate since he is actually the most experienced quarterback on the team. McCoy, however, is going to have some stiff competition this year.
Jevan Snead is only one semester removed from being in high school in Stephenville, Texas. Now he finds himself competing for the starting quarterback position for the defending national champions.
During the scrimmage, McCoy completed 7 of 11 passes for 75 yards with no touchdowns and an interception. Snead completed 9 of 13 passes for 97 yards with one touchdown and one interception. Both signal callers made some good throws and some mistakes. Both young men admitted to being nervous under the glare of the stadium lights and 41,200 fans that came out to see how the team looked.
More importantly, however, neither player shied away from the competition. Chances are that the competition will last all through the summer practices until the beginning of next season. Whichever quarterback comes out on top will need a quick mind and a thick skin. Any problems encountered on the offense will land squarely on the new quarterback’s shoulders and there could be some real struggles next year against perennial powerhouses like Ohio State and Oklahoma.
One surprise is that the Longhorns still used the zone read offense during the spring game. The zone read is a simple offense that positions the quarterback in the shotgun formation. When the ball is snapped back, the quarterback has a trio of options: give the ball to a running back, run the ball himself, or attempt a pass.
The offense was perfectly suited to the dual running and passing skills of Young at quarterback, but the two new quarterbacks have different abilities than the phenomenally athletic and poised Young.
Chances are that the Texas coaching staff will wait for a clear starter to be declared between Snead and McCoy before tweaking the offense to the quarterback’s talents. Until then, both of the new quarterbacks must do the best they can with an offense built around Young.
Aside from the larger than life quarterback competition, most positions on the Longhorn team looked pretty solid during the scrimmage. Thirteen starters returned from last year’s team to defend their title, and those who didn’t start last season proved themselves more than worthy of taking over their new position based on both spring practice and – more importantly – in-game experience from the championship campaign.
Some of the new faces found in the spring scrimmage were tight end Jermichael Finley, who caught four passes for 73 yards and a touchdown; linebacker Roddrick Muckelroy, who made seven tackles including one for a loss; and defensive back Ryan Moench, whose one tackle for loss was one of his six total in the annual spring ritual.
No matter who gets the starting nod under center, the talent is there for Texas to defend its national championship crown next year. The only question, albeit a major one, is who will lead the team now that their unabashed leader is gone.
