Ranking RG3

By Greg Tepper // TexasFootball.com

In the interest of full disclosure, it’s important to say from the outset that this exercise is ending a lot differently than it began.

It started with Baylor QB Robert Griffin III winning the Heisman Trophy on Saturday night, bringing the most prestigious award in college football to Waco for the first time ever. It was a joyous night for the Baylor faithful, as you can see for yourself.

</p> <p>And I don’t think there’s a person on the planet who can claim RGIII isn’t deserving; he’s been the most dynamic player in the nation, he’s led the Bears to nearly unprecedented heights and he’s put the long-beleaguered program back on the national map nearly single-handedly.<br/><br/> So that got the DCTF staff thinking: where does Robert Griffin III’s as-yet-incomplete 2011 campaign rank among Texas college QBs in the last 20 years? And, well, to make it even, we might as well make the cutoff 1990.<br/><br/> So the DCTF staff set off to find the top 5 seasons by a Texas college quarterback since 1990. But the problem is...well...I’m not sure if you’ve seen how many <i>great</i> quarterback campaigns there have been in the last 21 years. Spoiler alert: there are <i>a ton</i>.<br/><br/> We’re still going to get to the top 5 seasons and find Robert Griffin III’s place in recent Texas college football history. But first, we have to go through a whole lot of honorable mentions. And please note: non-Top 5 entries are not ranked, just in chronological order.<br/><br/><b><span mce_>Just Outside The Top 10</span></b></p> <p><i>Major Applewhite, Texas, 1999</i><br/> The best year of the Longhorns’ now-co-offensive coordinator’s career was not only impressive -- he threw for 3,357 yards and 21 touchdowns -- but proved that second-year coach Mack Brown had some staying power, sending the Longhorns to a second consecutive Cotton Bowl.<br/><br/><i>BJ Symons, Texas Tech, 2003</i><br/> To be real honest, this was probably the hardest one to keep out of the top 10. Symons took Mike Leach’s Air Raid offense to a new extreme, completing 65.4 percent of his passes for a whopping 5,833 yards and <i>FIFTY-TWO touchdowns</i> en route to leading the Red Raiders to an 8-5 record. If there’s a knock on Symons: he did throw 22 touchdowns, which is what keeps him outside my top 10 in favor of another Red Raider (we’ll get to him in a moment).<br/><br/><i>Reggie McNeal, Texas A&M, 2004</i><br/> Not necessarily surprisingly for a program that’s always prided itself on the run more than the pass, McNeal is A&M’s lone entry in this list, but his junior season -- 2,791 yards and 14 touchdowns passing, plus another 718 yards and 8 touchdowns on the ground -- was good enough to land him on the cover of the 2005 Dave Campbell’s <i>Texas Football</i>.<br/><br/><i>Trevor Vittatoe, UTEP, 2008</i><br/> Didn’t see this one coming, did you? Vittatoe’s sophomore season out in El Paso was simply sublime, completing almost 60 percent of his passes for 3,274 yards and 33 touchdowns. But perhap’s what’s most impressive was only throwing nine interceptions, showing decision-making ability beyond his years. But the Miners finished that year 5-7, keeping him out of the top 10.<br/><br/><b><span mce_>Top 10, but Not Quite Top 5</span></b><br/><i> </i></p> <p><i>Kliff Kingsbury, Texas Tech, 2002</i><br/> Remember the guy I struggled to discern from BJ Symons? Here he is: Kingsbury, his direct predecessor, who first put the Texas Tech high-flying offense on the map with his out-of-this-world 5,017 yards and 43 TDs during his senior year, culminating in a win at the Tangerine Bowl. Why Kingsbury over Symons? Ultimately, it came down to the fact that Kingsbury did it first, and did it with just a touch more accuracy (67.3% completion rate).<br/><br/><i>Kevin Kolb, Houston, 2006</i><br/> Sometimes, probably unfairly, I think Kolb’s sensational senior season goes a little bit overlooked. Leading the Cougars to a 10-4 record, a Conference USA title and a berth in the Liberty Bowl, Kolb was razor-sharp, completing 67.6% of his pass attempts while throwing for 3,809 yards and 30 touchdowns against a measly 4 interceptions. That’s accuracy.<br/><br/><i>Chase Clement, Rice, 2008</i><br/> Here’s a spoiler alert: there are three quarterbacks from the 2008 season on this list. Here’s a further spoiler alert: Clement is the one you forgot about. The SA Alamo Heights product formed one-half of one of the greatest QB-WR combos in NCAA history with WR Jarrett Dillard, and his senior season was his coup de grace, throwing for an astonishing 4,119 yards and 44 touchdowns while leading the Owls to their first -- and only -- 10-win season since 1949. And don’t forget his legs: Clement ran for 693 yards and a dozen touchdowns, too.<br/><br/><i>Graham Harrell, Texas Tech, 2008</i><br/> I know I said I wouldn’t rank the non-Top 5...but I lied. This was the hardest one to keep out of the Top 5 (and when we get to No. 5, you’d be correct in assuming that the choice came between Harrell and him). Harrell was sublime in 2008, knocking off No. 1 Texas at home and finding a rapport with a terrific stable of WRs (led by Michael Crabtree) to take Texas Tech to, at one point, No. 2 in the nation. Oh, and his stats were great, too, throwing for 5,111 yards and 45 touchdowns. If it weren’t such a cop-out, he’d be No. 5B.<br/><br/><i>Case Keenum, Houston, 2011</i><br/> It’s amazing what one game can do, right? Keenum was cruising toward at least an invite to this year’s Heisman Trophy presentation in New York before the loss to Southern Miss in the Conference USA title game. Still, his body of work this season has been absolutely amazing, taking Houston to the brink of a BCS berth while throwing for a world-best 5,099 yards and 45 touchdowns while tossing just a handful of interceptions. If it’s not for Southern Miss...who knows how this list shakes out?<br/><br/><b><span mce_>The Top 5</span></b><br/><i>No. 5) Andy Dalton, TCU, 2010</i><br/> What do you weigh more: statistics or victories? Sure, statistics can usually lead to victories, but anyone telling you that you can see everything you need to know in a box score is naive. Dalton’s stats are not the best on this list, but they’re hardly shabby -- completing 66% of his passes for 2,857 yards and 27 touchdowns against just 6 interceptions, also running for 435 yards and 6 TDs -- and he led TCU to a Rose Bowl victory, the pinnacle of the Horned Frogs’ non-AQ existence. He’s a piece of TCU lore now, regardless of how gaudy his numbers may or may not be.<br/><br/><i>No. 4) Colt McCoy, Texas, 2008</i><br/> As I mentioned, I went through basically every quarterback in Texas in the last 21 years, and while it’s wholly possible that I missed one, I don’t think there was anyone as lethally accurate as McCoy was in 2008. The Longhorns gunslinger completed an astonishing 76.7% of his passes -- the best single-season performance of any NCAA quarterback in this century -- while throwing for 3,859 yards and 34 touchdowns. Oh, and he ran for 561 yards and 11 scores as well. If it wasn’t for Graham Harrell and Michael Crabtree, he’d like have played for a national title in two consecutive seasons. Instead, he had to settle for a 12-1 record and a Fiesta Bowl apperance.<br/><br/><i>No. 3) David Klingler, Houston, 1990</i><br/> The original Air Raid. 21 years later, Klingler’s numbers may just look like another super-prolific spread-era QB -- 5,140 yards, 54 touchdowns, a gun-slingeresque 20 interceptions -- but Klingler was so one-of-a-kind in his era that he demanded a unique kind of preparation and respect. And most teams during Klingler’s outstanding junior season...well, they didn’t prepare well enough, as Klingler led the Coogs to a 10-1 record and a runner-up finish in the Southwest Conference. As for himself, he finished fifth in the Heisman voting in 1990, behind winner (and SA Southwest product) BYU QB Ty Detmer, Notre Dame WR Raghib “Rocket” Ismail, Colorado RB Eric Bieniemy and Virginia QB Shawn Moore (who, interestingly enough, had less than half of everything Klingler had in every major passing category). Simply put: the world was not ready for David Klingler in 1990, and it resulted in one of the best seasons for a Texas college quarterback ever.<br/><br/><i>No. 2) Robert Griffin III, Baylor, 2011</i><br/> And here’s RGIII, the newest addition to the Heisman family. The Copperas Cove product became the first Texas-bred Heisman winner since 1990 when Ty Detmer took home the award, and the first Texas-bred and Texas-playing Heisman winner since Andre Ware in 1989. And I was thinking about this the other day: where does Griffin rank in Baylor lore now? Remember: Baylor <i>still lost</i> three games this season, largely due to the fact that the Bears have a defense that a lot of Sun Belt teams think is pretty bad. But Griffin...I mean, he’s a transcendent, once-in-a-program type player, isn’t he? For a large swath of the national college football fan collective, Robert Griffin III <i>is</i> Baylor, and Baylor <i>is </i>Robert Griffin III. History tells itself as time passes, and we’ll know soon enough, but RGIII really may be -- with all due respect to gives like Don Trull and Mike Singletary -- the greatest Baylor player of all time.<br/><br/><i>No. 1) Vince Young, Texas, 2005</i><br/> Who else? I think everyone can agree that if the Heisman Trophy voting were held after the bowl games instead of before, Houston Madison’s own Young would have taken home the trophy. He was breathtaking in almost every facet of the game: prolifics (3,036 yards, 26 TDs passing; 1,050 yards, 12 TDs rushing), accuracy (65.2% passing on the season), huge moments (the Rose Bowl run sticks out obviously, but don’t forget the TD pass to Limas Sweed late on the road against Ohio State). Oh, and there was the whole “winning a national championship” thing, too. Vince Young’s 2005 season is, to me, the most amazing campaign a Texas college quarterback <i>has ever</i> put together, not just the last 21 years. And that’s why he tops my list.<br/><br/> So that’s my list. What do you think? How would your list differ from mine (or how would it be the same)? Let me know in our Facebook comments or e-mail me directly; I’ll print some of the best responses later in the week.</p>