Heard gives Texas reason for hope heading into Big 12 play

Texas opens conference place Saturday against Oklahoma State. He said the improved rest he’s gotten has gone “a long way toward helping me prepare and be ready to play” after being redshirted last season.

Now, Heard is the freshman who knocked Vince Young out of the Texas record book for most yards in a game in his second career start. “We’re very excited for him”. And rightfully so. Texas has been wandering in the quarterback wilderness since Colt McCoy left campus, but after Jerrod Heard racked up 527 yards of offense and almost orchestrated a miraculous comeback against Cal, it looks like the Horns have a gunslinger. But on the ensuing PAT, kicker Nick Rose missed the field goal wide-right, leaving the Longhorns one point shy of potentially sending the game to overtime.

“He’s really showing everyone that he wants to lead this team, so I’m really proud of what he’s doing”, freshman linebacker Malik Jefferson said.

Sure, the Texas offense put the defense in a tough spot a time or two just as it did the first couple games.

Texas also is next-to-last in third-down conversions allowed (56.3 percent) and tied for last in opponents’ fourth-down conversion rate (3-of-3, 100 percent).

It was only Heard’s second start, with the first coming the week before in a 42-28 win against Rice.

As Charlie Strong trudged his way through the bowels of Darrell K Royal Stadium, a structure whose girders withstood the alternating weights of program-restoring elation and Texas-sized despair within a few minutes’ span Saturday night September 19, the Longhorns coach spotted the sickest man in America. He saw running back Johnathan Gray bringing the team together to talk after the loss. “You watch our whole sideline now, when our offense takes the field, our guys are all just locked in”. The best example, Strong said, came before the team’s final drive, an 81-yard march capped by Heard’s 45-yard touchdown on a quarterback draw.

“They grew up tonight”, Strong said. “He was productive, he never quit, and we can definitely build on that”.

But considering the defensive acumen of Strong and his staff, there’s at least a chance UT will improve on that side of the ball throughout the year. Before taking the field, Strong said Heard turned to him and said: “I’ve got this”.