Holiday Bowl: Applewhite and Simms on Horns of QB dilemma
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The mood around Husky Stadium was euphoric on that November day in 1985. Chris Chandler, the young Washington quarterback, had stepped in for an injured Hugh Millen and marshaled the UW on a late drive to beat USC, 20-17.
First question to Don James, the UW coach, in the postgame news conference:
"So, coach," the young reporter asked, "does this mean you've got a quarterback controversy?"
Responded James: "I knew some (insert two-syllable invective here) would ask that question."
Are there any two more dreaded words in a coach's vocabulary than "quarterback controversy"?
Well, perhaps "NCAA investigation." Next to that, the issue of the quarterback is one that draws media fixation, can divide a team and can render coaches apoplectic as they storm from press conferences wondering why everyone isn't as concerned about the weakside guard competition.
So we have Texas. We have a 6-foot-5, blond-haired Adonis named Chris Simms who guns throws left-handed and makes most observers think he has a better future as an NFL quarterback than his dad Phil, the New York Giants' all-time leading passer.
Why wouldn't he have been named the starter over Major Applewhite, who is smaller (6-1), slower and has the lesser arm?
Oh, there's this: Applewhite holds 44 career passing records at the school, including yardage (8,353). For perspective, the Washington career leader, Brock Huard, had 5,742 yards.
This may be the mother, the grandma and the matron saint of all quarterback controversies. Simms started every game this season, putting on the bench a prolific quarterback who looks like Huck Finn would have looked, and who has attained folk-hero status among many people in Texas.
But Applewhite will start against Washington Friday night in the Holiday Bowl, partly because it's his final game at Texas, but mostly because Simms was guilty of four ghastly first-half turnovers against Colorado, which denied the Longhorns a victory that would have put them in the national-championship game.
There are other factors that make this one juicy: Interest in football in Texas is pretty much parallel to the interest in eating barbecue.
Mack Brown, the coach, is 37-13 in his four years at the school, but hasn't "won the big one." He hasn't won a Big 12 conference title, he hasn't finished in the Top 10, and that leads his detractors to question if he really knows which quarterback ought to be playing.
And then there is Brown's own apparent thin skin. He gets philosophical bordering on whiny when discussing the issue of the overheated passion for football in Texas.
In reference to the controversy, Brown says things like, "We've talked about it 14 years, and they've only been here three or four years," and "We've got 20 million people that graduated in coaching in our state."
Imagine two straight years of talk radio over whether Aaron Sele or Joel Pineiro should have started Game 5 of the American League Championship Series. That's how it's been in Texas.
Says Chad Hastings, a host on Texas' flagship radio station in Austin, "Somebody once said that the most popular man in this town is the backup quarterback at the UT. It's (the topic) been a constant theme that has run through the entire year and most of last year.
"Most fans would prefer Major."
"People just wonder: 'We've got a record-setting quarterback; why isn't he playing?' " says Roy Williams, Texas' leading receiver. "And: 'This guy from New York has come in, and why is he playing?'
"It's weird to see a record-setting quarterback being the backup."
Not that Texas players seem to be taking sides. The two quarterbacks have an amicable relationship, and as defensive end Cory Redding says, "Not once has it been a distraction for the team."
Redding doesn't deny that the subject is much-discussed, and wishes the public had just given it a rest.
"Just come to the game, cheer, win or lose, and be a fan," Redding says. "Just trust the system. Don't (tamper with) a young person's life. We're all young men. Believe in the system, and good will work out."
Considering this is Texas ... not a chance.
"Everybody had their own opinion about who they liked," said Texas linebacker D.D. Lewis, referring to the public.
Most of Texas treats Applewhite like a favorite son, even though he isn't. He came from Baton Rouge, La., recruited in the coaching regime of John Mackovic. He started the last 10 games of his redshirt-freshman season in 1998.
In 1999, he became Big 12 offensive player of the year, while a freshman mostly rode the bench. That was Simms, who, while still a New Jersey schoolboy phenomenon, reversed himself on a commitment to Tennessee and decided on Texas.
That year, Simms arrived for his first day at fall camp in a limousine. He says it was his mother's idea, but teammates called him Limo all year.
When Applewhite blew out a knee in the Cotton Bowl against Arkansas, the plot thickened.
Explaining why each got starts early in the 2000 season, Brown said, "We needed Chris to get some experience, because we didn't know if Major could stand up to the punishment (because of the knee)."
Texas stuck with Applewhite until early November, when he strained a knee. Simms led the 'Horns to three more regular-season victories, but threw four interceptions in a Holiday Bowl loss to Oregon.
The next part seems to rankle Applewhite most, although his displeasure is low-key. He says although coaches told him he was competing for the starting job last spring, "I was a little uncertain about that. I was strictly running with the second team and (Chris) was strictly running with the first team."
Simms was given the job this year, and he completed 59 percent of his passes for 22 touchdowns with 11 interceptions. He couldn't, however, deliver the big victory Texas fans prize, throwing four interceptions and failing to generate a touchdown against hated rival Oklahoma weeks before the meltdown against Colorado.
"There was a time when I was angry — the OU game this year," Applewhite says. "I wasn't the only person upset. That was a big game for us."
Applewhite says he has probably answered questions about the quarterback issue three times a day for the past 2½ years.
"You develop a canned answer, something you spew out over and over again," he said, adding, "I firmly believe through prayer, God is not going to give me more than I can handle."
Brown says he based his decision to start Applewhite in the Holiday Bowl on the comeback that brought the Longhorns to a narrow defeat against Colorado.
"We just felt that would carry a lot of momentum into the Holiday Bowl," Brown said.
In a rout against Kansas on Nov. 10, Applewhite got in to direct four drives, two for touchdowns. It was the final home game for Texas' seniors.
Said Hastings, "It was like the Pope was in town, they cheered so loud."
The Vatican, or the eyes of Texas. Sometimes in the Lone Star state, it seems the power is comparable.
Bud Withers can be reached at 206-464-8281 or bwithers@seattletimes.com.