Texas football: 5 most underrated players in Texas Longhorns history
By John Buhler
2. player. Pick Analysis. QB. (1998-01). Major Applewhite. Scouting Report. 851
Major Applewhite was the quarterback at Texas when Mack Brown arrived at the turn of the century. As a freshman in 1998 playing for John Mackovic, Applewhite completed 58.2 percent of his passes for 2,453 yards, 18 touchdowns and 11 interceptions. His best year came upon Brown’s arrival in Austin the following season via the North Carolina Tar Heels.
Must Read. Texas football schedule: Game-by-game predictions. light
Applewhite completed 58.0 percent of his passes for 3,357 yards, 21 touchdowns and nine interceptions. He would remain the starter entering his junior year in 2001, but would eventually lose his job to Chris Simms. Applewhite threw for 2,164 yards, 18 touchdowns and seven interceptions before eventually seeing Simms overtake him heading into his senior year.
After playing sparingly as a senior, Applewhite finished his playing career with a 57.4 completion percentage, throwing for 8,353 yards, 60 touchdowns and 28 interceptions. Despite getting benched as an upperclassman, Applewhite ranks third all-time in program history in yardage and touchdown throws. His 1999 yardage mark remains Texas’ fourth-best single-season mark.
Once his playing career came to an end, Applewhite got into coaching. He served as a graduate assistant initially at Texas before working at schools like Syracuse, Rice and Alabama before returning to Austin for a few years. Applewhite most notably became Tom Herman’s offensive coordinator and head-coaching successor with the Houston Cougars. He’s now back at Alabama.