Posted: Tue, 28 Sep 2010 12:49 PM - 8,627 Readers
By: Kirk Bohls
He deleted his Facebook account long ago.
About the only text messages he read after Saturday's meltdown against UCLA were the proud-of-you pick-me-ups from his parents, and one from former Lake Travis head coach Chad Morris.
Yes, Garrett Gilbert is learning fast about life as the Texas quarterback.
Stay away from newspapers. Don't listen to talk radio. Wear earplugs around fans.
Now he only has to grasp his yet-to-be-defined role in this whatever-passes-for-a-college offense, and start playing like the can't-miss phenom he's supposed to be.
We're waiting. ...
Are Mack Brown and Greg Davis asking him to become Colt McCoy and carry this offense perhaps sooner than he's ready? Or do they want him to be more of a caretaker, a game manager who needs to take better care of the ball and keep the chains moving?
Whatever the case, the plan isn't working yet, four games into his sophomore season. And change may have to be drastic.
Either Gilbert was vastly overrated and isn't nearly as good a quarterback as many — myself included — thought he would be, or Texas just doesn't have enough weapons around him to provide balance and ease some of the pressure on the quarterback.
I'm still going with the latter.
I still think Garrett Gilbert can be more Colt McCoy, less Chris Simms.
The Oklahoma game may be a crossroads game for Gilbert, for this offense, for this season.
This isn't a matter of ditching the current philosophy and returning to the spread formation with three to five wide receivers — in part because Texas' receivers have been so unreliable, with 10 dropped passes the last two games.
Texas' best receiver may be freshman Mike Davis, but he has a bum knee and is questionable.
Its best running back looks like sophomore D.J. Monroe, but he's slightly built at 5-9, 171 pounds; might not be able to pass-protect; and may not be able to withstand the pounding from more than a dozen carries a game.
Texas also doesn't have a tight end.
So what's the answer?
"We're looking for playmakers," Davis said. "But I think Garrett's going to be outstanding."
Texas, desperate in midseason 2004, finally unleashed Vince Young for a career-altering game in Lubbock. Coaches trusted his ability, and he just killed. He never lost another game.
I'm thinking Texas should trust Gilbert as well, and play to its strength by letting him throw 40 times a game. But Davis had an important, cautionary note.
"They're totally different styles," Davis said of the two quarterbacks. "We wouldn't have to block a person, and Vince might make a huge play by himself."
Gilbert can't do the same without help. He's a capable runner, but he can't catch his own passes. Said Davis, "It's not a matter of just trusting him."
It's the lack of faith in others. That's Texas' dilemma. Gilbert is underperforming and his teammates may not be able to provide enough help.
I expected much more out of Gilbert to this point than four touchdowns and four interceptions, all in the last two games. I assumed he'd played in this style of offense enough in high school and college to make better reads and decisions. I thought he'd have more touch on the ball than he showed on that horrible overthrow of a wide-open James Kirkendoll in the end zone, or a just-as-bad line drive toss to Mike Davis that the UCLA linebacker picked off.
Gilbert, a standup guy who understands the pressure, blamed himself for rushing the pass to Kirkendoll and for throwing the pick. "I've got a ways to go," he said Monday. "There's a lot of stuff I could do better to help the team."
Gilbert does have presence. He does have poise. Greg Davis said Gilbert once went to a receiver who was a fourth read against the Bruins, and completed three to a third-read receiver. And that awful, fourth-down pass to tight end Barrett Matthews that wound up about a city block short of the first down? Matthews was the third option; one of the other two options ran a poor route and the other was covered up.
I wouldn't give up on Gilbert, for a lot of reasons.
He has an NFL arm.
He has an NFL body.
Heck, he has an NFL dad.
But no one knows if Gilbert has the "it" factor. Quarterbacks have it or they don't. McCoy clearly had it. Young had it. Major Applewhite had it.
Chris Simms — whom Gilbert resembles on the height chart and in the arm category — alas, did not have it.
We may well know if Gilbert has it after the next two games: against Oklahoma in the neutral Cotton Bowl (which sure won't feel neutral if Gilbert keeps making those turnovers he's been prone to) and against Nebraska in not-neutral Lincoln.
After four games, Gilbert ranks a mediocre 81st in pass efficiency, but don't blame it on his class rank. Nineteen sophomores and seven freshmen quarterbacks have higher quarterback ratings than him.
Greg Davis points to Gilbert's acceptable 62.6 completion percentage, but in this day of throwing the ball all over the field, 52 quarterbacks have a better completion percentage than Gilbert. Nine are hitting more than 70 percent of their passes. One, Northwestern's Dan Persa, connects on 80 percent of his.
The numbers aren't there. The big plays aren't there either. He's also not a very good tackler.
It's hardly all Gilbert's fault, but the clock is ticking. In the meantime, he won't answer his mail.
