NYT:Hoping He’ll Fulfill His Promise, Texans Turn to Schaub

HOUSTON, August 8 — The legend of Matt Schaub may have had its genesis on a late summer Saturday in Charlottesville, Va., with an embarrassing benching in a college season opener. N.F.L. reputations are usually built from something more auspicious than a junior briefly losing his job to a freshman, but in Schaub’s case, Virginia Cavaliers Coach Al Groh’s quick hook back in 2002 paved the way for a season that put Schaub on the N.F.L. radar screen.

Schaub has remained there ever since, existing just below the public’s consciousness, a starter in waiting as the mythology about him grew among football insiders. Until now. Schaub will start for the Houston Texans this season, the first time he has been anything more than a very talked-about fill-in since college.

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But during a game in his second season, when Vick was hurt, Schaub served notice to general managers that he might have been ready for more. It was just his second pro start (his first was a miserable performance in a loss to the Saints in his rookie year). The opponent: the defending Super Bowl champion Patriots.

Belichick blitzed Schaub heavily and Schaub threw deep. Schaub rallied the Falcons from a 14-point deficit in the first half and a 15-point deficit late in the second half before Tom Brady led the game-winning drive. Schaub finished with 298 yards rushing, three touchdowns and no turnovers.

“Those might have been the moments when people took notice and I made a name for myself,” Schaub said after a recent practice.

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http://www.nytimes.com/2007/08/14/s...en=944447cfc035ef12&ei=5099&partner=TOPIXNEWS

“He’s a terrific team guy at a position that on the N.F.L. level, with all the attention, can become very individualized,” Groh said. “He knows what he’s looking at, he’s smart, he’s well prepared, he recognizes it quickly, he’s fast to react to it. Good accuracy.”

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Let's hope it translates!!

Schaub finished with 298 yards rushing, three touchdowns and no turnovers.

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I think that might be a record for QB rushing yards in a single game. Why didn't the Falcons start him over vick? That is 3 more yards than the single game rushing record!

No less a publication than the august NY Times has this as one of its lead stories in its Sports Section. Yep, Schaub and his opportunity with the Texans is on the radar for sure.
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"Gil Brandt, the former Dallas Cowboys personnel chief who analyzes the draft for nfl.com, had Schaub rated with the top group of quarterbacks in the 2004 draft - Philip Rivers, Ben Roethlisberger and Eli Manning. "
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"Schaub is soft-spoken and modest, but he carries himself with a bit of swagger that has not gone unnoticed by his teammates. His command of the West Coast offense - the Texans run the same system he has played since college - means the ball is delivered even into tight spots at exactly the right time, allowing his teammates, like Johnson, to relax.
They always say he hasn’t started that many games,” Johnson said. “When you see him, you’d think he has played in a lot more games.”
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BTW, looks like even the NY Times proofreaders miss it now & then:
"Schaub finished with 298 yards rushing, 3 touchdown passes and no turnovers in a 31-28 loss."

Even with proofing problems, this is the article that Texans fans needed to read.

Instead of platitudes about how he is a leader, it straightforwardly tells Schaub's story. Nice read.

I'm gonna stick my neck out and say that he'll never give us 300 yds. rushing.

HJam72 said:

I'm gonna stick my neck out and say that he'll never give us 300 yds. rushing.

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Coward.

In Houston, the Texans were aching for something more from their quarterback. David Carr was the first draft pick of the new franchise, but he proved to be a distant team member, inclined to go home to his family rather than spend extra time bonding with his teammates and studying film. For a young team desperate for leadership, Carr was a bad fit.

Schaub, who had gone through the adjustment pains of life in the N.F.L., was the right one. As soon as he was acquired, he began calling his teammates. He moved into a place five minutes from Reliant Stadium, and he routinely beats everyone else to work. Schaub said he had immersed himself so fully in the Texans that he had spent no time contemplating what might have been in Atlanta. “He solved a lot of problems for us,” Smith said.

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http://www.nytimes.com/2007/08/14/sports/football/14texans.html?_r=1&ref=football&oref=slogin

Tis' a good article...Some of the same old stuff, but has some interesting parts too...