This college football season may not be defined by another dominant season by Alabama or another dual threat at QB making highlight-reel plays. It may not be defined by upsets and the chaos that is College Football. Instead it might be defined as one of the most unlikely players coming into the season. With no scholarship offers out of High School and little to no attention heading into the season, Gardner Minshew has been a joy for College Football fans to watch (if you’re still up watching him and 12 or 1 in the morning that is)
Gardner Minshew grew up and attended high school in Brandon, Mississippi where he blossomed throughout his career and showed his amount of arm talent as well as the ability to throw it 40-50 times a game. He was Player of the Year in 2012 as a Sophomore and as well as Offensive MVP in the 2014 Bernard Blackwell All-Star Game played in Gulfport, Mississippi. Gardner in total through his High School Career had 11,222 passing yards and 105 total touchdowns. But even though he accomplished so much, he was low rated and had zero stars coming out of high school from every recruiting website, so he stayed in town and attended Northwest Mississippi CC.
Gardner would continue to put up big numbers in CC as he led NWCC to a NJCAA National Championship behind 3,288 passing yards and 28 touchdowns as a freshman. The trend with Gardner is that he shows excellence, but continues to be overlooked by higher ranked talent. Gardner threw for 421 yards and 5 touchdowns and rushed for 3 more in a 66-13 route in the National title game. Gardner could show he could ball out against competition below him, but once he decided to transfer, it hit Gardner like a brick wall.
Gardner did enough that season to get 2 FBS offers in Buffalo and East Carolina. Gardner chose East Carolina and would play in 7 games, including getting 2 starts. Gardner realized he wasn’t the best player on the field and when he did play, his overall play was just average. His sophomore year, he threw for 8 touchdowns to 4 interceptions. But his Junior year, Gardner started to flashes of the dominance he had back in High School and CC. He passed for 2,140 yards and 16 touchdowns, but turnovers were a bit of a red flag as he threw 7 interceptions. Some of his big time performances though were really good games. Against Houston, he was 52-68 (76%) for 463 yards and 3 touchdowns. Against Cincinnati, he threw for 444 yards and 4 touchdowns in a big win. Gardner could’ve been satisfied with that season and come into his senior year being one of the top rated QB’s in the conference behind the likes of McKenzie Milton and D’Eriq King. But instead, Gardner took a chance and after he earned his degree in December, Gardner decided to transfer to Washington State.
It was a perfect fit for Gardner for 2 reasons. For one, Washington State had Luke Falk graduating and the Starting QB job at a power 5 school was up in the air for the taking. And for two, Gardner was a perfect fit for Mike Leach’s system in that he wants his QB to through 45-50+ passes a game and that’s where Gardner thrives. Mike Leach is the College Football version of Andy Reid in that he gets the best play out of his QB as he possibly can. With little to no attention before the season started, he’s got the entire campus and a lot of the country on notice whether it’s his charismatic facial hair or that he has Washington State in prime position to win the Pac 12 and make a New Year’s 6 bowl (something the Cougars haven’t done in 15 years). It also garners (no pun intended) some Heisman talk in the way he has lifted his team to the #8 team in the recent CFP rankings. So far, Gardner has a 70.4% completion percentage (#1 in the Pac 12) for 4,325 Passing Yards (#1 in the nation) and 36 Passing Touchdowns (also #1 in the nation) on an astronomical 578 passing attempts. Gardner has the entire WSU fanbase behind him as he’s been somewhat of a superhero like figure in Pullman. Washington State still has some work to do to make that NY6 bowl as they play Washington in the Apple Cup and if they win that game, they got a date with Utah for the Pac 12 Title game. Whether they win out or not, Gardner Minshew will be a name a lot of College Football fans wont forget and he truly has made his name known.
Image Credit: https://247sports.com/college/washington-state/Article/Washington-State-football-Dave-Nichol-says-Coug-QB-Gardner-Minshew-leading-the-charge-on-offense-122053983/
