IRVING — The image most people see of Garrett Gilbert is a nervous young quarterback who was thrown into the national championship game against Alabama after Colt McCoy went down.

Though Texas dropped a 37-21 decision to the Crimson Tide, the freshman seemed to gain confidence every minute he played.

Now push the calendar up seven months.

Garrett Gilbert was thrown into the fire in last year’s national championship game against Alabama.
Marcio Jose Sanchez/Associated Press

Swarmed by reporters at Wednesday’s Big 12 football media day, Gilbert seemed poised and determined to take his place as the next great Longhorns quarterback. After a year as McCoy’s understudy, the job now belongs to Gilbert.

“Colt was an unbelievable player,” Gilbert said. “But I’ve got to be myself. As the summer has gone on, I’ve felt more comfortable. The older guys have helped me move into my role. I still have a ways to go in my leadership abilities, but I’m trying to be more vocal.”

If there was ever a high school quarterback who had major college success written all over him, it’s Gilbert.

At 6-4 and 215 pounds with a huge arm, he looks like he was born to play quarterback. He’s been groomed to play much of his life by his father, Gale Gilbert, a former NFL quarterback while played on four Super Bowl teams with the Buffalo Bills and another with the San Diego Chargers.

Garrett was was named Gatorade national player of the year in 2008 after setting a state passing record with 4,851 yards while throwing for 55 touchdowns for a powerhouse Austin Lake Travis team that won its second straight Class 4A Division I championship.

With such lofty credentials, it’s no wonder Texas coach Mack Brown believes Gilbert will be a huge success.

“(Texas offensive coordinator) Greg Davis has done a tremendous job with Major Applewhite, Chris Simms, Vince Young and Colt McCoy,” Brown said. “So we feel Garrett will end up being as successful as that group in the same span of time. He’s been a tremendous leader, and a 4.0 student.”

But when McCoy went down with a first-quarter arm injury in January’s national championship game in Pasadena, Calif., Gilbert looked like a scared freshman thrown on college football’s biggest stage.

Unexpected SOS

“When Colt got hurt, we turned to Garrett, and I said, ‘Get your helmet,’ his eyes were as big as silver dollars,” Brown said. “He looked at me like you’ve got to be kidding. And he couldn’t find his helmet, and it’s got No. 3 on it. So he wasn’t planning on playing.”

Gilbert said he found his helmet under the bench near the 50-yard line before going into the game. He looked rattled throughout the first half, which ended ingloriously when Alabama defensive lineman Marcell Dareus intercepted Gilbert’s shovel pass and returned it for a 28-yard touchdown to give the Crimson Tide a 24-6 lead.

But Gilbert looked like a different quarterback in the second half as he threw a pair of touchdown passes to Jordan Shipley to cut Alabama’s lead to 24-21.

“It was obviously a tough situation because it was the national championship game,” Gilbert said. “But after the first quarter, I felt OK. I was able to hit Jordan with a couple of touchdown passes, and I felt relaxed and was just out there playing. I gained some confidence and felt that I could be successful. Even though I threw four interceptions, we still had a chance.”

After Gilbert fumbled on a blindside sack, the Crimson Tide scored a late touchdown to finish off the win. But Brown believes Gilbert will be a better quarterback this year after being thrown into the national title game under fire.

“After the game, I walked up to him and said, ‘I’m sorry if we put you in a real tough spot,’ ” Brown said. “He said, ‘Coach, that’s not a problem. The problem was I turned the ball over or we would have won the national championship.’ I think Garrett walks into a much better situation now than Colt did, even though Colt had more experienced players around him.”

Value of on-job training

When McCoy took over as Texas’ quarterback four years ago, he had a redshirt year under his belt but no college game experience. By contrast, Gilbert played in 10 games last season including the biggest game of the year.

The young quarterback should get more help from Texas’ running game this season. After primarily playing out of the spread offense in recent years, the Longhorns will use more traditional running formations this season.

“We’ll have the quarterback under center more,” Brown said. “We will go back and work harder to get the ball downhill from the tailback spot. We feel like it will give them a better opportunity to be stronger and tougher in the running game than we’ve been the last two years.”

While Gilbert would have liked to be the hero in the national championship game, he believes the experience will pay dividends down the road.

“Being able to get into the game against the best defense in the nation was a great experience,” Gilbert said. “As a competitor, you want to win every game. But playing in that game gave me quite a bit of confidence that will be invaluable. I’m confident that we can be successful and move the ball and score points.”

jwerner@wacotrib.com

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