It was early January in Pasadena, California and a young quarterback, fresh out of Lake Travis High School in Austin, Texas, was getting ready to walk out of the underbelly of the Rose Bowl and onto the field with the rest of his Texas Longhorn teammates.
The young freshman wasn't completely an unknown when he committed to the University of Texas back February of 2008. Not only was he the son of a former NFL quarterback, but he broke the high school state record for the most career passing yards (12,534) originally held by a well known Texas Tech quarterback, Graham Harrell. On top of that, in 2008, he was also named the USA Today, Texas Associated Press Sports Editors Class 4A Player of the Year
Not many freshman get to experience a national championship game in their very first year. What young Garrett Gilbert, son of former NFL quarterback Gale Gilbert, didn't know, was he would become a bigger part of the biggest game of the year long before he ever expected to.
It was still the first quarter and Gilbert watched as senior Longhorn quarterback, Colt McCoy, was leading his team closer to the end zone, threatening to score against a good Alabama defense. But, in a blink of an eye, McCoy took a hit and came out of the game holding his shoulder, unable to move his arm. It was then that it hit the young freshman, it was his number being called.
Head coach Mac Brown turned to young Gilbert and must have told him that it was his turn to take the reigns and lead the team where they needed to go. We don't know just how much of the conversation Gilbert heard at that moment, especially with his heart beating so loud in his ears that it could have drowned out the more than 90,000 in attendance.
Through the entire first half, Gilbert looked like a deer in the headlights, though who would really blame him for feeling that way. It's not very often you see a true freshman being thrown to the fire in a national championship game. Thought it did take me back to the 1994 NCAA Championship game when UCLA's Cameron Dollar came in for Tyus Edney against Arkansas, a game UCLA ended up winning.
However, it seemed as if the Texas coaching staff either didn't trust Gilbert to throw the ball or Gilbert didn't know if he had the confidence in himself to call a passing play. In at least five drives, including four straight, the Longhorns ran the ball two straight times before the young quarterback threw a pass on third down that either went incomplete or for negative yards.
When the first half was over, Gilbert had been intercepted twice and didn't look at all comfortable. The 'Horns walked to the locker room at halftime down 24-6 with no comeback in sight.
Though it took most of the third quarter for him to finally get comfortable, the young freshman finally broke through, hitting wide receiver Jordan Shiply on a 44-yard touchdown strike to bring them to within 11 of Alabama.
The first drive of the fourth quarter is when Gilbert really began to shine. He completed seven of eight passes and found Shipley again, this time from 28 yards out. And just like, that the national championship game went from what looked like an easy Alabama win to a three point game with just over 11 minutes to play.
But, it was a blitz that Gilbert never saw coming from Eryk Anders that ended what looked like one of the biggest comebacks in national championship history.
It took one drive to show Texas fans what they had to look forward to, and the story of Garrett Gilbert starts in less than a month in Houston, TX against the Rice Owls. This is his time to begin his own legacy and it's his turn to show the Longhorn fans that he has what it takes to lead them back to another national championship game.
While there might be no question that the team could get back to the big game, another question has emerged. How will Gilbert do in the shadow of Colt McCoy?
People point to his high school numbers as one indication that this young quarterback is a lot better than people think. While I won't point to high school numbers to help prove anything against a big time college football conference, I will say that Gilbert looks to not only become his own man with his own style, but he'll be better than Colt McCoy was.
There's something to be said for another quarterback's legacy, especially one that followed another national championship quarterback in Vince Young.
Gilbert has big shoes to fill and big expectations from coaches and teammates. While being thrown into the fire in a national championship game may have been more than he bargained for, it may have been the best thing for him in the long run.
Not many quarterbacks can come into their sophomore season after having played the biggest game of his career in his very first year with the school. This is going to be a good quarterback for years to come and, as one ESPN analyst already predicted, he could very well be hoisting the coveted Heisman trophy before it's all said and done.
If you don't know the name Garrett Gilbert by now, trust me, you will very soon.
Colt who?
