Quarterbacks the story of 2008 bowl season
January 3rd, 2009 by Vince Mullins
Graham Harrell, all-time passing TD leader
The 2008 Bowl season set the stage for some great quarterback stories – two that deserve to be in a fantasy hall of fame and two youngsters that could foreshadow some great 2009 fantasy college football performances.
Let us first look back at some great good-bye games from two great signal-calling careers.
Graham Harrell of Texas Tech (photo courtesy Icon SMI) eclipsed the all-time passing TD record in the 47-34 loss to Ole Miss in the Cotton Bowl. So how does that NFL resume look with 134 TDs and multiple 5,000 yard seasons? We will learn more at the Senior Bowl interviews when we head to Mobile later this month.
Patrick White led West Virginia to a Meineke Car Care Bowl victory and became the first QB to win four bowl games in a career as a starter in addition to the game’s best ever running QB. I wasn’t aware of this before the game, but this carries a lot of weight with me when crafting my perception of his college career. If a USC or an Oklahoma QB had put that stat up it may not mean as much to me – but when you ARE the offense for what was an average program until you showed up (I know they had a national title in the Major Harris years...) then it means even more.
Despite the career high passing numbers, I hope White focuses on working out as a wideout for the pros. I foresee a Kordell Stewart like career path – remember when he looked like one of the best big-play wideouts in the league before his career bombed at QB? Pat White should seek out Stewart so he can learn from the former Steeler’s journey.
Let us now look ahead to 2009 as it looks very interesting for these two young QBs. LSU trotted out Jordan Jefferson (photo courtesy Icon SMI) in the Chick-Fil-A Bowl and he is clearly movin’ on up after the 38-3 shellacking of Georgia Tech. Combine a nice tight spiral, obvious leadership skills, top-level talent and the aggressive coaching of Les Miles and Jefferson will be one to watch.
Northern Illinois redshirt freshman QB Chandler Harnish underperformed in the 17-10 loss to Louisiana Tech, but I saw some things that I liked in the performance. If the Huskies defense can continue its strong trend (24th in BlitzIndex) then Harnish should get short fields to work his magic in 2009.
Some great QBs are still to come this 2009 bowl season – I will have previews of the Fiesta, GMAC Bailout and the BCS Title Game over the next few days (actually, I previewed the Gator-Sooner matchup about a month ago, but I will go much more in depth soon).
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