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This Texas Two-Step Still Emerging

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If you follow college football at all, you know that Texas has two quarterbacks who share playing time and you probably know both of their names, Major Applewhite and Chris Simms.

Now, name a Texas quarterback who came before them.

OK. That’s easy.

Bobby Layne.

Now, name two Texas quarterbacks who came before Applewhite and Simms.

Well, there’s Bobby Layne and . . .

Several schools have developed reputations as Quarterback U’s. Texas is not one of them. A Running Back U maybe, with players such as Ricky Williams, Earl Campbell and Eric Metcalf. But not a Quarterback U.

Layne, Class of ‘47, is one of only four Texas quarterbacks to play in the NFL and the only one to distinguish himself. The most recent was Rick McIvor, who played 12 games in three seasons as a backup with the St. Louis Cardinals from 1984-86.

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Texas quarterbacks don’t become pro quarterbacks. They become answers to trivia questions.

Q. Which Texas quarterback dated coed Farrah Fawcett?

Q. Which Texas quarterback married coed Mary Lou Retton?

Q. Which Texas quarterback became the Tennessee Titans’ special teams coach and designed the Music City Miracle?

(Answers: Greg Lott, Shannon Kelly, Alan Lowry)

But football was no trivial pursuit to Darrell Royal, the famed coach who established the running game at Texas. “There’s only three things that can happen when you pass, and two of them are bad,” he philosophized.

So most outstanding high school quarterbacks passed on Texas.

Royal figured Texas fans didn’t care as long as the Longhorns won, which they did a lot when he coached them. They won the national championship in 1963 with a quarterback who threw one touchdown pass the entire season.

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When I talked to Applewhite and Simms on Tuesday in San Diego, where the No. 12 Longhorns (9-2) are scheduled to play Friday night in the Culligan Holiday Bowl against No. 8 Oregon (9-2), I had to ask the question: What are two passing quarterbacks like you doing at a school like Texas?

I was particularly interested in Simms’ answer. He was one of the nation’s top-rated high school passers two years ago in Franklin Lakes, N.J.; he has NFL bloodlines--his father, Phil, is the New York Giants’ all-time leading passer; and he could have gone to any school he chose.

At the urging of his family, he chose Tennessee. Then he listened to his own heart, reneged on his verbal commitment to the Volunteers and signed with Texas.

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Instead of becoming the next Peyton Manning at Tennessee, he decided to become the first Chris Simms at Texas.

“I wanted to become the first of a certain kind of quarterback at the University of Texas,” he said. “I wanted to start a tradition of quarterbacks who achieved a certain status there.”

Then he arrived in Austin to learn that Texas already had a quarterback of a certain status.

Status, not stature. It is easy to see why Simms might have underestimated Applewhite as a competitor for playing time. Tall and blond, Simms wasn’t recruited but ordered from Central Casting. He stands 6 feet 5, weighs 222 pounds and carries himself on and off the field a lot like his favorite quarterback (besides his father), John Elway. Applewhite is listed at 6-1, 207, but he is closer to 5-11. Red-headed and freckle-faced, he looks like Opie Taylor.

Out of high school in Baton Rouge, La., he also looked like a prototype Texas quarterback, one who would be reliable at handing off to a Heisman Trophy-candidate running back. But he chose Texas--not that he had many choices--because the Longhorns were shedding their running reputation under former coach John Mackovic.

It would have been amusing at the time to hear Applewhite talk as he did Tuesday of establishing a legacy of passing quarterbacks at Texas, but it appears to be happening.

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Only a junior, Applewhite already has set or tied 40 school passing records, and although that might not mean much at this particular school, he has thrown for more than 2,000 yards--3,357 in 1999--three consecutive seasons.

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A wise coach once said that having two quarterbacks is like having no quarterbacks.

After rotating Applewhite and Simms for the first four games of this season, Texas Coach Mack Brown apparently arrived at the same conclusion after the Longhorns lost, 63-14, to Oklahoma. Of course, it wasn’t only quarterbacks that Texas didn’t have in that game. Offensive linemen, linebackers, safeties, you name it, Texas didn’t have it.

Applewhite became the quarterback for the next four games, all victories, before injuring his knee. Simms started the final two games, victories over Kansas and Texas A&M.; In a 43-17 victory over the archrival Aggies, he threw for 383 yards and three touchdowns.

It was the first clear sign of his promise since he arrived in Austin.

Fans in Darrell K. Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium breathed a collective sigh of relief, not so much after his touchdown passes as after one of his incomplete passes.

Caught in a blitz, Simms threw the ball out of bounds--far from the arms of any Aggie. In the 11th game of his sophomore season, he seemed to finally understand that more than a strong arm is required to play quarterback.

Four of his seven interceptions this season have been returned for touchdowns.

“On three interceptions I can think of, I forced the ball,” he said. “I was pressing, trying to make a big play so that I could stay in the game.”

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That is as close as he comes to second-guessing his coaches for not installing him as the No. 1 quarterback.

“I’ve moved past the quarterback question,” he said.

Applewhite said he has too.

“I promised myself and my parents at the beginning of the season that I wouldn’t let it consume me,” he said. “I’ve done too much here to let it consume me.”

Brown announced Wednesday that Simms will start against Oregon and play as long as he’s effective because of Applewhite’s lingering injury. But Applewhite, unable to contain the competitiveness that has served him so well on the field, said he didn’t come to San Diego merely to visit the zoo.

It could be worse. Texas could have three quarterbacks.

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Randy Harvey can be reached at his e-mail address: randy.harvey@latimes.com.

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

Passing Grades

Passing statistics for Texas quarterbacks Major Applewhite and and Chris Simms:

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Applewhite Simms Attempts 279 117 Completions 152 67 Completion % 54.5 57.3 Passing Yards 2,164 1,064 Touchdown Passes 18 8 Interceptions 7 7 QB Rating 135.91 144.25

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