Jerrod Heard Gives Texas Fans What They Haven't Had Recently: Hope

Texas lost the battle but won the war, falling 45-44 to Cal on its home field Saturday but finding hope in the form of freshman quarterback Jerrod Heard.

Heard completed 20 of 31 passes for 364 yards, rushed for 163 yards and three touchdowns and improvised in ways that gave Longhorns fans visions of former quarterback Vince Young.

Even though it came against Cal, a defense that last year ranked No. 108 in the country in Football Outsiders' S&P+ ratings, Heard's performance felt important. He willed Texas back from a 21-point fourth-quarter deficit and would have forced overtime if not for a missed extra point with 1:11 to go.

"I'm excited by our offense, but it's negated by how our defense is playing," Longhorns head coach Charlie Strong told the Longhorn Network after the game.

At this point, most Texas fans will take it.

Heard came to the Longhorns after leading Guyer High School to back-to-back Class 4A Division I Texas state championships.

He was bred to be a UT starting quarterback and entered spring camp as the favorite to unseat starter Tyrone Swoopes, who struggled last season while Heard learned the offense and took a redshirt.

But Heard couldn't pass Swoopes all offseason, and slowly fans began to read ominous tea leaves. If Swoopes has all these flaws, and Heard can't win the starting job, how many flaws must Heard have?!

But maybe Heard is just a "game" quarterback—the type who struggles on a practice field but shines under bright lights. That would align him with another Texas high school-turned-college legend whose game his happens to resemble: Johnny Manziel.

Replacing Swoopes with Heard imbued the Longhorns with a different energy. The offense was fast and confident. Players flew into open space and shredded holes. They seemed like they were playing football instead of thinking about playing football.

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They looked like they were out there having fun.

Even if playing Cal inflated Heard's stats, or if he simply played the best game of his life, his emergence shone light on a bleak situation. Texas demoted Shawn Watson from play-calling duties after gaining just 163 yards in Week 1, and then "fired" athletic director Steve Patterson (who technically resigned) one week later.

The part of Longhorns fans that looked forward to watching games had been smothered by a three-game stretch against TCU, Arkansas and Notre Dame in which the offense averaged 3.1 yards per play and the team lost by a combined score of 117-20.

Game days with Swoopes felt more like having 8 a.m. chem lab than a reason to tailgate.

Now at least there's something to look forward to.

Texas has fallen far in the past half-decade. It was beaten by a team that lost 27 games the past three seasons, and it still feels like the day was a net positive. This is not the same program that made the 2010 BCS National Championship Game.

But you can't go from 2015 Texas to mid-2000s Texas in one tidy swoop. Restoring the program takes time. The Longhorns' unrivaled bankroll accelerates that timeline, but still: it takes time. They have to rebuild the roster piece by piece.

The biggest piece on Texas' roster, as with most rosters, is the quarterback. Prior to Saturday, it didn't think it had one. After Saturday, it's pretty sure it does. 

Hope can't be far behind.

Brian Leigh covers college football for Bleacher Report. You can follow him on Twitter @BLeigh35.