Stephenville QB, committed to UT, is a new breed
11:38 AM CST on Friday, December 2, 2005
STEPHENVILLE – The latest in a string of stud Stephenville quarterbacks
wants every University of Texas fan to know a few things about Jevan
Snead right away.
• He won't run from competition.
• He doesn't work best in a trickery-based offense.
• And no, he won't leave college to play bass in a band.
Snead didn't grow up in Stephenville – he moved here from Class A Eden
in the ninth grade – but he knows the history before him, that no
quarterback from this football factory has achieved true greatness at
the next level.
Branndon Stewart had a chance at Tennessee, lost a battle with Peyton
Manning and wound up a solid quarterback at Texas A&M.
Kevin Kolb has Houston likely headed to the Fort Worth Bowl running
former Stephenville coach Art Briles' offense.
And Kelan Luker is somewhere jamming after leaving SMU for his band,
Submersed.
Snead, who switched his oral commitment from Florida to Texas before the
high school playoffs started, is a new breed of Stephenville
quarterback, according to coach Chad Morris.
"The thing is, the quarterbacks that have played here, they were very
successful high school quarterbacks," said Morris, in his third year at
Stephenville. "But the system now compared to the system those guys
used, it's not even remotely close."
As Snead prepares for his biggest game, against another top national
recruit, Highland Park's Matthew Stafford, the last thing on his mind is
critics.
Snead isn't thinking much about the high-profile matchup with Stafford,
which will be the only one in the country pitting two players invited to
the EA Sports Elite 11 quarterback competition in California last summer.
"I don't take this as being too personal," said Snead, who is friendly
with Stafford.
Stafford, who has orally committed to Georgia, has been in the spotlight
since taking Highland Park to the state semifinals as a sophomore.
Snead, whose first name is pronounced JE-vun, is more of an unknown.
He, too, made his first start as a sophomore, going 8-for-8 for 205
yards and two touchdowns – in the first half – against Crowley. But
Stephenville went 6-4 in Morris' first year and ended a 15-year playoff
streak.
Snead blossomed as a junior, helping Stephenville to a 10-1 season. He
has been awesome this season, completing 205 of 329 passes for 3,266
yards and 35 touchdowns. He has only 10 interceptions. And he has 728
yards rushing with 22 more TDs.
Snead is slow to compare himself to other quarterbacks, but he watches
tons of video of San Francisco 49ers rookie quarterback Alex Smith. Both
are around 6-4, 210 pounds. Stephenville uses the same offense Smith ran
under Urban Meyer last year at Utah. And Snead's scouting report of
himself reads like one that would fit Smith.
"I hope they would say I can make big plays with my arm," Snead said.
"But I can pull it down and run when I need to."
The best thing about Snead, his teammates say, is his down-to-earth,
unassuming personality off the field – he squirms constantly during an
hourlong interview – which carries right over to the football field.
"He handles things real well, and that's really good for the rest of
us," junior wideout Brent McElfresh said. "If anyone from here was ever
going to make it, it's him."
Even when Snead was making the tough decision to switch to Texas, he
didn't let it interfere with Stephenville's season. He started
rethinking things during the summer and was swayed more when he attended
the Texas-Oklahoma game. Even though the Longhorns already had an oral
commitment from Arlington Bowie's Sherrod Harris, Snead's mind was
spinning with thoughts of Texas.
He said he had "the idea in his head" of switching before a visit to
Austin last month. He said the atmosphere at Texas and his family roots
planted him back at home.
"I look forward to the competition at Texas," Snead said. "I love the
state of Texas, and I love being around my family."
E-mail
twills@dallasnews.com
School: Stephenville
Class: Senior
Recruiting ranks: No. 78 on The Rivals 100 national list; No. 10
in Rivals.com's Texas 100 state list
Notable: Snead has thrown for 3,266 yards and 35 touchdowns. ...
He is 46-of-86 for 633 yards and four TDs in three playoff games. ... He
has three 100-yard rushing games in the playoffs. He has 57 rushes for
357 yards and nine TDs in the playoffs after 65 rushes for 371 yards and
13 TDs in the regular season. ... Moved to Stephenville from Eden,
Texas, located between San Angelo and Brady, before his ninth-grade year.
Stephenville coach Chad Morris' scouting report: "He'll beat you
with his arm, but he'll also beat you with his legs. He has a great
presence on the field. He does a great job of reading defenses. When he
scrambles, good things happen for us. He's as comfortable in the pocket
as he is out of the pocket."
Rivals.com recruiting editor Jeremy Crabtree's scouting report:
"Jevan is a kid that does a lot of things right. He is fundamentally
sound and smart. He runs the spread offense well. He makes a lot of
heady plays. He has a strong arm and knows how to put extra zip on it
when he has to. He probably doesn't have as big an arm as Highland
Park's Matthew Stafford, but Stafford has the strongest arm in the
country."
The top state recruits according to Rivals.com's Texas 100 still alive
in the playoffs:
Stephenville (13-0) vs. Highland Park (13-0), Class 4A Division I
state semifinal, 2 p.m. Saturday, Fouts Field, Denton (ESPN-FM 103.3)
Player
Pos.
School
State rank
Oral commitment
Matthew Stafford
QB
Highland Park
2
Georgia
Nation's top QB shows in playoffs he can run, too
Jevan Snead
QB
Stephenville
10
Texas
Has three 100-yard rushing games in postseason
Deon Beasley
DB
West Orange-Stark
11
Texas
Starring at QB while leading team to state semifinals
Leonard Hewitt
DB
Lufkin
18
undecided
Safety had seven interceptions in regular season
Derke Robinson
RB
Hebron
31
Arizona
Missed last week's game vs. Everman with injury
Danny McCray
S
Spring Westfield
47
LSU
Big hitter could get Trinity RB Dimitri Nance in state final
Greg McElroy
QB
Southlake Carroll
53
Texas Tech
Has taken his game to another level in playoffs
Buck Burnette
OL
Wimberley
58
Texas
Faces future teammate Beasley this week in state semifinals
Latreal Cooper
RB
Cuero
61
Texas A&M
Has made recovery from ACL injury
E.J. Shankle
RB
Lufkin
65
undecided
Says he's not orally committed to Texas A&M yet