Meet the quarterback. A kid in the prototypical NFL body: Tall, an arm that ejects footballs faster than an anorexic coughs up a late-night snack and just as efficiently. A legacy.
Born to this from a father who was the NFL winner. A boy really, he is soft-spoken with a smattering of pimples and stiffly practiced poise. He is the Texas Longhorns’ future and their past.
He is, of course, Chris Simms, UT QB circa the beginning of the 21st century. But we might just as easily be talking about Texas’ new dream machine operator Garrett Gilbert, and that begs the queasy question as the Horns open the season as the No. 5 team in the land.
Dream of the photo of young, tow-headed Gilbert posed with the UT QB. The QB in question is not Simms but Major Applewhite, the intense Howdy Doody doll whose frame didn’t fit NFL specs but whose drive to win is legendary. He’s a UT assistant coach now, while Simms has an NFL career that for all intents and purposes dimmed to ultra-low wattage after a cheap shot shattered his spleen in 2006 and almost killed him.
Simms’ 26-6 record as a UT starter is fifth best ever, behind Colt McCoy, Vince Young, Bobby Layne, and James Street. But young Garrett idolized Applewhite, and those with long-term memories intact know why. Simms never beat Oklahoma. Worse, he blew a national title trip to the Rose Bowl to play Miami by falling apart against Colorado in the 2001 Big 12 title game. The Horns had already beaten the Huskies 41-7 earlier in the year, but Simms broke down that day with three first-half interceptions and one fumble. Coach Mack Brown benched a gimpy Simms in favor of Applewhite, the senior who had to choke back the bile as golden boy Simms robbed him of most of his final season. Applewhite led the Horns back from a 29-10 deficit on grit and desire. He fell just short for a 39-37 loss. Applewhite then went on to win the consolation Holiday Bowl over Washington 47-43 by tossing the ball for 473 yards and cementing his place in Longhorn lore. If only …
As talented as he was, as NFL ready, Simms was missing something. Awkward, cocky Applewhite had it in spades. So did Colt McCoy, and Vince Young danced past everyone.
So, you ask, what of the 2010 Texas Longhorns? Fans shrug and look at Gilbert, a 19-year-old boy who must take charge of one of the biggest football machines in America. He has the answer. He is the answer to this Jeopardy question. Simms or Applewhite? Applewhite or Simms? The coin is in the air. Call it.
We’ve got only a weird national championship game as a gauge, but that’s not a bad start. After McCoy came down with Spaghetti Arm Syndrome, Gilbert swerved and sputtered before easing into gear to bring the Horns very, very close — two second-half TDs and a two-point conversion whittled a 24-6 halftime deficit to 24-21. Then Gilbert got walloped from his blindside in a play that Simms will tell you can make a man/boy’s spleen ache. Over. Hand Alabama the trophy and bring on the 2010 season. Here we are.
Simms was 1998 USA Today National Offensive Player of the Year. Gilbert was Parade magazine’s 2009 player of the year coming out of Lake Travis High School. But Gilbert also had back-to-back state championships at Lake Travis and passed for a state-record career 12,537 yards. Applewhite’s Catholic High School team in Baton Rouge was 13-1 and ranked 10th nationally his senior year. Applewhite or Simms? No, one man doesn’t win football games. There’s no I in team. Blah. Blah. Blah.
So here’s the schedule:
Texas beats Rice 49-7 with Gilbert looking good, but the Horns trying to prove they can run the ball, with a trimmed-down and in-shape Cody Johnson leading the charge but giving way to Tre Newton and Fozzy Whittaker taking hand-offs from backup QB/little bro trying to live the dream Case McCoy.
Texas beats Wyoming 56-10. It’s closer than it should be in the first half as Texas tries to prove it has a ground game, then begins to air it out, then goes back to the ground game.
Texas plays at Texas Tech, at home against UCLA, in Dallas against OU and then at Big 12-buster Nebraska (the team that first grew to hate the Horns when Applewhite beat them his freshman year to snap their 47-game home win streak). They win three out of the four.
Texas beats some other teams before ending the season against a fired-up Texas A&M squad and crushing them.
The Texas defense looks solid with Mack Brown touting it as perhaps the best he’s had, and Sam Acho and Kheeston Randall aim to step into the holes left respectively by Sergio Kindle and Lamarr Houston. I’m just as anxious to see what freshman goliath Jordan Hicks will do to opposing offenses.
The receiving corps of James Kirkendoll, a quiet of late Malcolm Williams, freshman hotshot Mike Davis, speedy Marquise Goodwin, and former QB John Chiles is certain to have figured out how to pull down Gilbert’s painful bullet passes by now, and — who knows? — maybe a tight end will show up and run the touted H-back formation (which will be history by the Oklahoma matchup). The kicking game? They’ve got one with Justin Tucker.
Another 10-plus win season and a potential run for a national title. Why not? I can think of only one reason. Simms or Applewhite? The answer is in the palm of Garrett Gilbert’s hand.
Play ball.
This article appears in September 3 • 2010.