Sam has been a Warhorse for UT even though he never won a championship. Where does Sam fall out of these former QBs (not in any particular order) Vince Young Colt McCoy Bobby Layne Marty Akins James Street Peter Gardere Major Applewhite James Brown
Sam is in that conversation with that group. Other than Vince, the list is subjective. I never saw Layne play. I'd add Eddie Phillips to the list. Best wishbone QB we ever had, IMO.
Only Texas QB to beat OU 4 times. It is subjective, but I would respectfully disagree. And I know that won't change your mind. Not trying to.
Sam doesn't even compare with these guys. Applewhite shouldn't be listed there either. Don't mention stats....Stats are for losers. These other guys WON championships, or did something special ( Conference titles, national titles, undefeated 4 years vs OU ).Losing four games per year with no titles isn't anything to be heralded for. Sam is a great guy and true Longhorn, but that is where it ends.
If there were a Mount Rushmore of top four Texas quarterbacks it would consist chronologically of Layne, Street, Young, and McCoy. In my book Ehlinger is in the top ten in Texas history but he is closer to tenth then he is to fifth and credible arguments could be made for any rank in that range. Going 4-0 against OU was awesome (particularly since it happened while I was on campus) but Gardere would be just outside my top ten.
That's fine. It's just that other than the OU achievement, and I appreciate how significant that is, he was a .500% guy. If he doesn't hold the NCAA record for most interceptions returned for TD's he's close.
You have a good point, and it is subjective for sure. But when I think of Gardere, all that comes to mind is the OU wins, not the bad. With Sam, I think of his toughness and loyalty and love of Texas. Unfortunately, and the Georgia win was big at the time, he has no real big accomplishments to put him in the realm of greatness.
I am wondering if Gardere won his games against coach Blake because that would probably taint his success against Oklahoma.
Sam's not on this list, Simms would be for sure. Winning matters at the QB position. He's somewhere around Brett Stafford, Shea Morenz.
Most of the QB's on that list esp Layne, Street, Young and McCoy had damn sight better teams around them than Sam has had to play with his 4 years. You put him an behind an OL with 2 All-Americans (Street, Weunch, McKay) and he looks better I assure you. He may not be Mt Rushmore material buts he is not exactly chopped liver either.
Rolls eyes. Did you forget to mention Murdock... I think we may end up missing Sam more than some of us thought...
Is that Joe gibbs? Isn't Joe Gibbs a highly thought of NFL coach who coached at Washington? If it was Joe Gibbs that coach at Oklahoma I sure didn't know he did that or forgot that. I am going to have to Google that.
Since the OP is about where Sam falls in UT history, not how talented he is compared to others, the answer is he just doesn't stack up. Besides the Sugar Bowl win, there has been nothing of significance he has done as the Texas quarterback.
Don't make assumptions. I think Pom was sincere, but I could definitely be suffering from a maladjusted sarcasm meter.
Why Simms over Sam? What did Chris accomplish that Sam didn't? No stupid losses? They both have those. Win over OU? Chris had none, Sam had 1. Conference title? Nope, both had a shot at one and both lost. Bowl wins? Chris has 1, the Cotton Bowl vs. LSU and lost 2. The Holiday Bowl win over Washington goes to Applewhite. If Simms finishes that game, he would have three bowl losses. Sam has three wins so far, including the Sugar Bowl. I'm not saying Sam should be on the top ten list over Chris, but Chris should definitely not be on the list over Sam. - Mike
I hate these posts cause it makes me talk bad about players I like. Simms was like 26-6 as a starter, at one time held highest passer rating in UT history, think Colt beat that but he was a dude for us. Sam's an all time great Longhorn, but not a great QB. He played his heart out for us but also cost us 5-6 games because of bone headed mistakes late in 4th quarter. Also, think Tech was his only come from behind win unless I'm missing one in 4 years. He lost to a lot of freshman/sophmore Qb's that were on less talented teams. It is what it is...
Again, since the thread is about UT history, one could argue that Simms and Applewhite could have influenced VY choosing to come to Texas. I don't know if that's the case, but if so, that would cement their being on the list IMHO.