Athletes - Major Applewhite

Home > Listing Index > Athletes > Major Applewhite

	Athletes - Major Applewhite

Major Applewhite was a college football quarterback who played for the The University of Texas Longhorns from 1998-2001. Recruited out of Lafayette, Louisiana by then Texas coach John Mackovic, he was later coached by Mack Brown and quickly became a fan favorite. The undersized Applewhite's tenure at Texas was noted both for his often gritty heroics as well as his battle for playing time with the heralded blue chip Chris Simms, son of New York Giants legend Phil Simms. Simms had a size advantage (Simms stood 6'5" versus Applewhite listed at 6'1" but likely a bit shorter.) as well as a strength advantage over Major. However, Applewhite won over fans with amazing accuracy, the ability to take a hard hit, and an uncanny ability to rally his teammates and fans when trailing.

College career

One poigniant moment occurred at the 2001 Big 12 Championship when Simms threw 4 interceptions and fumbled resulting in 5 turnovers total in the first half of play. Major was seen attempting to rally the offense before they took to the field, even as the restless Texas fans booed Simms as he returned to the field. Two plays later Simms became injured and Major entered the game. His first pass was completed for an 80 yard touchdown and he baited the University of Colorado bench in an attempt to rally the Texas fans. Eventually Texas would come up short losing 39-37 after an onside kick attempt failed. His near miracle comeback solidified his starting position for the Holiday Bowl, where he would lead another comeback throwing for 473 yards and 4 touchdowns to win over Washington 47-43.

Records set

The longest pass play (97 yards)

Career passing yards (8,353)

Passing yards in a season (3,357)

Completions in a season and career (271 and 611 respectively)

Consecutive passes without an interception (156)

Consecutive games with a touchdown (19)

Touchdown passes in a career (60).

After graduation, Applewhite attended training camp with the New England Patriots, but retired prior to the start of the season to pursue a career in coaching.

Applewhite returned to Texas as a graduate assistant and served in that position until early 2005 when he was offered the job as quarterbacks coach at Syracuse University by new head coach Greg Robinson, the former defensive coordinator at Texas. On January 8, 2006, after one year at Syracuse (in which the Orange posted a disappointing 1-10 record), Rice University named Applewhite offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach under new head coach Todd Graham. Graham said of Applewhite's expected contribution to the new staff, "We want to spread the field and throw the football, and every quarterback and receiver in this state will be interested in Rice with Major as our offensive coordinator."

[ Visit the complete Wikipedia entry for Major Applewhite ]

This page is based on the copyrighted Wikipedia article Major Applewhite; it is used under the GNU Free Documentation License. You may redistribute it, verbatim or modified, providing that you comply with the terms of the GFDL.

Athletes - Major Applewhite

College career

Records set

Searches on eBay

Related searches on eBay