Shane Buechele

Texas Football: Shane Buechele The Long-Awaited Answer at Quarterback

Published Jun. 30, 2017 6:28 p.m. ET

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Texas football pulled off a monumental upset on Sunday night with a 40-37, double-overtime, thriller over No. 10 Notre Dame. In the process, they answered their long-standing question at quarterback with the arrival of true freshman Shane Buechele.

Buechele has been making headlines since he arrived in Austin as an early enrollee. He lit it up in the spring game, throwing for 299 yards in a half of play. Since then, coaches and teammates have raved about his intangibles and fans have been clamoring to see him lead this offense as the starter.

Sunday night, they got their wish. Buechele became the first true freshman to start the season opener for Texas since 1944 and quickly proved that he was more than hype. Playing with poise beyond his years and a throwing ability that the Longhorns have not had under center for years, Buechele completed 16 of 26 passes for 280 yards and two touchdowns with one interception. In addition, the freshman also rushed for 33 yards and a score.

Beyond the raw numbers, Buechele stretched the Notre Dame defense vertically, throwing accurate deep balls that forced the Irish to play the entire field. To start the second half, Texas enjoyed a quick-strike score when John Burt blew past his defender for a 72-yard touchdown. Quarterback-turned-receiver Jerrod Heard also turned in a 68-yard reception, providing some explosiveness to an offense that severely lacked that element in 2015.

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The key to everything on Sunday was the play of Buechele. He stepped into a huge spot and proved that he’s the right man to lead this offense. He made every throw asked of him, handled adversity with poise, and led the offense up and down the field.

That’s something that a Texas quarterback has not been able to do consistently since Colt McCoy graduated back in 2009. Since that disastrous loss in the BCS National Championship, the Longhorns have been floundering at quarterback. Every offseason has been dominated by questions about the quarterback position and when it will get better.

With Shane Buechele’s arrival on the Forty Acres made official on Sunday night, it looks like that question will have an answer for the foreseeable future.