Best College Quarterback Ever?

On October twenty second, nineteen ninety four, two historically black colleges alcorn State and Georgia Southern face off and it's a national news game despite it not being a Division One game, because Steve McNair, a Heisman hopeful, is about to break the record for the most yards in a college career, putting alcorn State on the map and showing the greatness that was Steve McNair in college and beyond. Today we're going to dive into how good he was in college on Daily Sports History. Welcome to Daily Sports History. I'm Ethan Reese, your guide as you daily learn more about sports history, increasing your sports knowledge. And today's trivia question is what two college players beat out Steve McNair for the Heisman in nineteen ninety four. So Steve McNair was born in Mount Olive, Mississippi, growing up with four other brothers who were all athletes raised by their mother, Lucille, and he showed greatness in his athletic ability as well as he played football, baseball, basketball, track. But he really excelled in football, and not just at the quarterback position. See he actually set the Missouri high school record for interceptions in a career at thirty and had fifteen his senior year of high school and was getting recruited by almost all the major college football programs as a defensive back. He got offers from Miami, Notre Dame, Florida State, Florida, but none of them wanted him to play quarterback. They all wanted him to play defensive back. But when alcorn State, who his brother had been a quarterback at in the nineteen eighties, said we would love for you to come and be a quarterback here, he jumped at the opportunity. Now out, Corn State is one of the HBCU universities, meaning it's a historically black college that started in nineteen twenty one and as part of the Swack Conference, which is the same conference of a previous episode where we covered Prairie Views losing streak, they were also in the Swack and interestingly enough, some of those losses came from Steve McNair. But they've always been a pretty good team. They've won thirteen conference titles and have a winning record overall, including winning five Black College National Championships. But the last time they were in Division IE Double A or the FCS playoff was when Steve McNair was there. They've only been three times, and all of those times they've had a McNair on the team, one being his brother. Now, the moment he stepped on the field, the moment he stepped on the field for the first practice, he showed the skills he had. He was a good runner, he was a good improviser. He could throw the ball all over the field with accuracy, all as a freshman. But they had a starter already in place. But during their first game against Scrambling University, coached by the legendary Ed Robinson, with a team down twelve to seven, McNair was put into the game and this is where he took off and didn't look back. He completed seven of eleven passes for all one hundred and eleven yards in that first half and finished the game with three touchdowns, leading them to victory in his very first game as a true freshman. In that first season, he would lead Alcorn State to a seven to two to one record, giving them a Swack championship, going seven to oh in the conference and got them to the playoffs, where they faced off in number two North Louisiana in a losing effort but that first season, he passed for over twenty eight hundred yards and twenty four touchdowns as a true freshman, as well as running for two hundred and forty yards and six touchdowns, and he continued to get better for his sophomore and junior season. He would pass for over three thousand yards in twenty nine touchdowns his sophomore year and twenty two touchdowns his junior year. Now, after his junior year, the NFL had actually put together a Draft Advisory Board to assist college players to know whether they should declare for the draft or stay in college, giving them an idea of where they would be drafted so that they could make an informed decision. It's a great opportunity, it's a great program. It was a great program for players to understand. So after his junior year, McNab was told he would be a first or second round pick, meaning he would almost definitely be on a roster, making hundreds of thousands of dollars at least life changing money for him and his family. But his mom said he needed to make the decision for him, no one else, not her, not his brothers, not the team for him. But he decided that he wanted to finish out his career and see what would happen one more season, and it was a doozy of a season and ended up being one of the the greatest college football seasons of all time, as in their first game of the year against Grambling State, he threw for over five hundred and thirty four yards with five touchdowns and added ninety nine yards on the ground. He ended with a total of six hundred and thirty three yards for the game, just ten shy of the division to a record which he would later beat during this season and coming into the season, it was a long shot, but he had the chance to break the all time record for the most passing yards by a quarterback, set by BYU's Ty Depmer in the eighties. As on October twenty second, nineteen ninety four, he only needed two hundred and sixty four yards to pass Ty Deptmer, so everyone assumed this game was gonna be the one he needed to break the record. In al Corn State Stadium about twenty one thousand, and there was over twenty six thousand in attendance for this game, as he was going to make sure he got the record, and he blew it out. Of the war, as he finished the game with six hundred and forty nine yards, a record for the most yards in a game, as well as giving him the record for the most yards passing for a career, all against Georgia Southern, who was ranked twenty second in the Division one Double A at the time, giving them the win, and he would continue his streak and they would end up with an eight and two and one record heading into with a berth in the Division two A playoffs where they faced Number one Young Town State led by Jim Trussell, where they would eventually lose. And the biggest problem with this team why he didn't have the championships and everything that a lot of great college athletes do have, is because his team had no defense. He was scoring just for the chance of his team to win. The more they scored, the more chance they had to win because their defense was not there. Maybe they could have used him on defense as well, But that season he finished with five three hundred and seventy seven yards passing with forty seven touchdowns and nine hundred yards and nine touchdowns on the ground, over six thousand yards total for this season, which was a crazy amount back then just to give you an idea. The year before Charlie Ward won the Heisman, another quarterback who was a dual threat. He passed for three thousand yards and twenty seven touchdowns. And on Sports Illustrates list for the greatest single college seasons of all time, Steve McNair is number four, just behind temp Tevo, Marcus Allen, and Barry Sanders. And to give you a little bit of a context, the most passing yards last season in college football was Michael Pennocks junior, who passed for four thousand and nine hundred yards and he only had thirty six And this was thirty years after in today's game is very different than it was back then. So after this amazing season, local fans of alcorn State were really trying to put together as highlight reel and make it a good thing. And he even appeared on the cover of Sports Illustrated making his case for the Heisman, and the cover of the Sports Illustrated said give him the Heisman, as the Heisman can actually be given to any college player. It's just never gone to anyone else that wasn't part of the Division one or the FBS series, because they're the most popular series they're the most popular teams, they're playing probably the better competition. But there have been a few instances where non FBS players have gotten the chance to at least be in the conversation for the Heisman. In nineteen seventy seven, Doug Williams, who went on to win a Super Bowl, actually finished fourth in the Heisman voting at Grambling State, another HBCU location, and an another HBCU alum, Jerry Rice out of Mississippi Valley State, finished ninth in the Heisman voting, And in nineteen eighty five, Joe Dudeck from Plymouth State, a Division III school in New Hampshire, actually appeared on Sports Illustrated on with Bo Jackson and Chuck Long as an option for the Heisman, and he was able to finish ninth. But McNair had one of the greatest seasons in college football history, and that really put him on the upper echelon and gave him a chance. But unfortunately other people had great seasons. The Rashan Salaam of Colorado rushed for over two thousand yards, and at the time, the running back position was kind of the top position to win the award, and so he was given he won the award, getting over four hundred first place votes, and the runner up was Cajohn Carter, who had over fifteen hundred yards and twenty three touchdowns and would end up being the number one pick in the nineteen ninety five draft. But Steven nair ended up being the top quarterback in the voting for all of college, beating out Carrie Collins of Penn State and Jay Baker of Alabama and getting one hundred and eleven first place votes. Despite not winning that, he would win the Walter Payton Award, which is given out to the best player in Division one two way, and finishing third in the Heisman was the highest an FCS or Division one doublea player has ever finished, and no one has come close since. But it just goes to show you how great McNair's college career was, and he would go on to the NFL, being drafted third overall by the Houston Oilers, who would go on to become the Tennessee Titans, where he would lead them to a Super Bowl and be voted MVP in two thousand and three and would have his number retired by the Tennessee Titans. He is a member of the College Football Hall of Fame and maybe has an outside chance to make the Pro Football Hall of Fame, but sadly he will not get to enjoy this as he was involved in July two thousand and nine in a shooting that took his life. But we can always remember how good he was, not only in the NFL, how amazing he was in college, putting Alcorn State on the map and letting everyone know that HBCU universities still have great football. And if you want to learn more about HBCU football, check out HBCU Huddle, where host CJ and Mike take you what's going on around historical Black College and all the sports involved in the great sports programs that they have as they to this day still have great programs, consistently producing players that make it to the NFL. And maybe one day we'll get another player as good as Steve McNair. And if you enjoyed this episode, please give us a rating or review where every listening, and if you want in your review, tell us a topic you would like us to cover. We'll get that done just for you and come back tomorrow for more daily sports history. And did you catch the answer to today's trivia question what two players beat out Steve McNair for the Heisman in nineteen ninety four, And the answer is Rashon Salam who won the award in his runner up was Gajohn Carter