For what it’s worth, I thought I’d do a little research to put David Ash’s season into context. Some folks who know stats like the back of their hands. Not me. I have to look them up. Then I have to try to remember what I saw at the time. It’s not a perfect science, but I think it’s pretty close and maybe somebody can correct me if I err. Garrett Gilbert was thrown into a game as a true freshman, but he didn’t start it and he didn’t win it either. Colt McCoy, Vince Young, Major Applewhite, James Brown, Shea Morenz, Peter Gardere and Mark Murdock were all redshirt freshmen. Brett Stafford, a three year starter for Texas, didn't start until he was a sophomore. Shannon Kelley got a couple of starts during the Stafford years, but not as a freshman. Todd Dodge and Rob Moerschell had a lot of starts, but not as freshmen. Robert Brewer played a lot of games for Texas, but he didn't even have a scholarship as a freshman and he certainly didn't play. Chris Simms started a game as a true freshman. It was against A&M in 1999, right after the collapse of the bonfire, when Major Applewhite was sick with a stomach virus. Texas lost. Before Simms you have to go back to Rick McIvor in 1979. He got the start over a three game stretch and went 1-2. The year before that, Donnie Little started three games as a true freshman and went 1-2. And in 1976, Mark McBath, as a true freshman, started DKR's final four games at Texas and went 2-2. So to summarize, in the 35 years prior to 2011, Texas had only four true freshman start a total of 11 games and collectively they went 4-7. Mark McBath came back the next year and never lost again. He sustained a season-ending knee injury in 1977 and left the program the next year to attend medical school, but he went 6-0 after his freshman year and Texas won those five games by an average of 49.5 to 4.8. Donnie Little went 8-1 as a starter during his sophomore year before being replaced by McIvor. Fred Akers vacillated between Little and McIvor in 1979 so I can’t really tell which games McIvor started, but he hung around the program forever (through 1983) put up a lot of gaudy stats and won a lot of games. Chris Simms, of course, went 26-5 as a starter throughout the rest of his career. In other words, they all got better.
I have got to say I feel a lot more comfortable with a soph Ash than I thought I would midway through this season. He made obvious progress in the bowl game. Frankly, I'm more concerned about our wide receivers. The only one I'm confident in next year is Shipley. And DGB if we get him.
My concern with Ash is his decision making under pressure. He looked much better against Cal, but did not seem to be pressured like he and McCoy had been pressured in previous games. Is that OL improvement, or Cal defense selling out to stop the run? What's going to happen next season when quality defenses get after him?
We will see how he holds up next year, but the point is that he will be a sophomore, and we (hopefully) will not need a true freshman to start again.
Not try to bring this up because it is like . But I feel different about Ash than I did GG. I along with every other fan and the coaching staff and teammates lost all confidence in GG after the 5 INT game vs K-St. Maybe because our defense wasn't near as good and we needed more out of GG than we do Ash. Hopefully our defense will keep doing what it did this season and allow some growing time with Ash. As he grows the more confidence he will get and more our coaches will have in him.
The only thing I truly understand about college football is this: always pick against a team starting a freshman quarterback. From time to time a freshman will come in an play well, but it's the exception, not the rule. Freshman almost always struggle and then the good ones get better their sophomore year and much better their junior year. I don't know whether Ash will turn out to be a good quarterback, but I do know that you can't make a final judgment on him, or any quarterback, based on how he played his Freshman year.
Good post, it helps to put things in perspective. With a stout D next year we might make the BCS with even adequate QB play.
"wide receivers. The only one I'm confident in next year is Shipley." ________________________________ I believe Goodwin deserves our confidence. I believe in J Harris. He hasn't gotten on the field much (youth/injury) but has done nothing to be compared with WRs that caused many to lose confidence in them. Wherever DGB goes, he has dropped as many as he's caught so far in college. Should he become a horn I'm gonna temper my enthusiasm until he shows his stuff on a higher plane
I wondered about this stuff when I heard Craig Way and crew broadcast that Ash set the true-freshman TD pass record during the Holiday Bowl with his fourth of the season. He was tied with Jordan Shipley and (I think) someone else until that pass...right? Steve
I still like em both - when they win - Ash for beating Cal, and Case for beating AnM. Actually really like the whipping of AnM. And I liked the first half of Case against Baylor - but like the Aggies all year, would just as soon not played the second half. Thought we had this QB thing all locked up until then.
El Sappo, I think the point is, a program like this very, very rarely has to press a freshman into action trying to lead the offense. So rarely, that until 2011, the most TDs a true freshman had ever put up was 3 or fewer! I also think there's a very good chance that Mr. Ash improves markedly during the offseason. Come fall, he will be in his second year, and the numbers for second year QBs (including redshirt freshmen) are vastly better than the numbers for the few true freshmen who've been pressed into service.
Also have to wonder what might have been if the UT backfield had not been wiped out this year. Too many injuries in the wrong places cost Texas perhaps 2 games and what would have then been an overachieving season. Instead they ended up about where most predicted. And as a young team across the board this makes me understand that the team can be very good next year. But the coaches need to keep the intensity up all year. Although I liked seeing many true frosh playing this year, I am looking forward to seeing what an offseason strength and condition program can do for them. Going forward I want to see more players redshirt and get bulked up before they the field. We aren't going to win against good teams with 240-250 lb DEs, 280 lb DTs, and 230 lb LBs. I want to see a physically stronger and bigger defensive front that can push other teams around a bit and really hit somebody when they get the chance.
