Texas Two Step

As the Division 1A college football season winds down to a close, there are a few names on the lips of many as the best players in the nation. Both happen to be quarterbacks who play their college football in the state of Texas.

First, you have Colt McCoy of the University of Texas.





All McCoy has done is complete an other wordly 77 percent of his passing attempts, while only having 7 interceptions versus 30 touchdown passes. Then you can factor in his running ability, which has seen him score 8 more times, as he leads the team with 527 yards on 117 attempts. He has meant so much to the Longhorns that you may expect him to soon be catching passes and returning kicks as well. If there was ever a front runner for the Heisman Trophy Award this year, McCoy would have to be amongst the first mentioned.





Then you have Graham Harrell of Texas Tech.




He leads the nation in passing, as does the team itself. He has completed 70 percent of his passes, while tossing a whopping 39 touchdowns against only 6 interceptions. Harrell doesn't run as much, and isn't asked to. Shannon Woods and Baron Batch both have rushed for over 600 yards, but Harrell has still rushed for 6 touchdowns as well. He was considered the favorite to win the Heisman before Oklahoma dismantled Tech's dreams last week, but is still very much alive in the hunt for the award. He is also considered to be the top rated quarterback in the 2009 NFL Draft.




You may think that is where it ends in the talk of excellent quarterbacks in the Lone Star State, but you'd be wrong.

The University of Houston boasts another from their long line of productive signal callers.



Case Keenum is a sophomore who is the 2nd ranked quarterback in college football behind Harrell by just 164 yards. Keenum has thrown 38 touchdown passes, while having 9 intercepted. He also has completed 69 percent of his tosses, despite being sacked 22 times so far. Keenum has also rushed for 5 touchdowns, which ranks as the second most on the team.


How about Chase Clement, a senior at Rice University?



Clement is having the best season that hardly anyone is talking about. He ranks 6th in the nation in passing, and has completed 66 percent of his passes for 36 touchdowns against 7 interceptions. He has done this while being sacked 21 times, and has still lead the Owls to one of the best seasons they have had in decades.He has rushed for 563 yards on 129 attempts, both of which are the second most on the team. He leads the team with 10 rushing toudowns, which have helped propel Rice into first place in Conference USA.


You can also talk about Robert Griffin, a freshman at Baylor University.



Griffin has a completion percentage of 59 percent, which is truly outstanding for a quarterback at any grade level. If you add to the fact he has only tossed 2 interceptions all year, you can see how special Griffith is. He also is an exciting runner. He is second on his team with 744 yards, but leads the team with 11 rushing touchdowns. Add his 14 passing touchdowns, and you can see that he is bound to be all over the Baylor record books by the time he graduates.



Then there is sophomore Trevor Vittatoe on the University of Texas El Paso.



Vittatoe has tossed 31 touchdowns against just 6 interceptions, while completing 59 percent of his passes as well. He is currently ranked 15th in the nation in passing, just 3 spots behind McCoy.



You can even look at Southern Methodist University's Bo Levi Mitchell.



He is currently ranked the 27th best passer in all of college football. The freshman has completed 58 percent of his passes, while throwing 23 touchdowns, and running for one more. Mitchell has been victimized for 21 interceptions, but the talent is quite evident.


Though Harrell and Clement are graduating after this season, the future looks very bright for college football in Texas. Not only in the quarterback position either, but you would be hard pressed to list another state in this great country with a better class of passers. With youngsters like Keenum, Vittatoe, Griffin, and Mitchell bound to get even better, you may be witnessing one of the finest quaterback classes in the entire history of Texas right now at any level. Even when you consider the history already paved, you may agree with me that this is no tall tale.