Former Texas HS Football Stars: College Football Roundup

After a week 0 with limited games, college football officially got underway in its entirety this past weekend across the country.

Since Texas is one of the hotbeds for football talent, there were plenty of Texans plying their trade across the nation. Here is a look back at some of the best performances from former Texas high school football players in week one.

QB Hudson Card: University of Texas R-FR (Lake Travis HS)

For some in Austin, it was a surprise that Card was given the nod at quarterback for Texas instead of Casey Thompson in week one. Card showed why on Saturday.

The redshirt freshman commanded the pocket well, stepping up to avoid pressure when necessary and looking relatively comfortable while doing it. He scored the first touchdown of the Steve Sarkisian era in Austin on an 18-yard dump-off pass to Bijan Robinson in the first quarter and didn’t look back from there.

Card finished with 224 yards passing and two touchdowns as Texas cruised to a 38-18 victory over #23 Louisiana. It was an impressive performance by the young quarterback to get a new era of “All Gas No Breaks” in Austin underway.

Card’s 18-yard TD pass to Robinson (Courtesy of Fox College Football): https://twitter.com/CFBONFOX/status/1434261220303966208

QB Tanner Mordecai: SMU JR. (Waco Midway HS)

It took Tanner Mordecai just three and a half minutes to fire his first touchdown pass as an SMU Mustang after he transferred from Oklahoma this past offseason.

He found Grant Calcaterra, another Oklahoma transfer, open across the middle for a 21-yard score to set the tone for SMU against Abilene Christian. Calcaterra and receiver Danny Gray (Dallas Madison HS) each had two touchdown catches in the first half as Mordecai had the SMU offense firing on all cylinders up 35-3 at the interval.

Mordecai added two more touchdown passes in the second half for good measure, finishing with 317 yards passing and an SMU-record seven touchdowns, as SMU got off to an ideal start to the 2021 season with a dominating 56-9 victory.

Mordecai’s 21-yard TD Pass to Calcaterra (Courtesy of American Athletic Conference): https://twitter.com/American_FB/status/1434294470699278343

QB Frank Harris: UTSA SR. (Schertz Clemens HS)

Frank Harris played an instrumental role in helping UTSA knock off its first-ever Big Ten opponent on Saturday night as he threw for 280 yards and a touchdown in a 37-30 win against Illinois.

Harris opened the scoring late in the first quarter, keeping a read-option for a nine-yard touchdown run. He finished the night with 32 yards rushing and a touchdown on the ground. His lone passing touchdown came in a crucial spot early in the fourth quarter with UTSA up 23-20.

He zipped a screen pass out to his receiver Zakhari Franklin (Cedar Hill), who bounced outside and found room down the sideline for an 18-yard score that put UTSA up by 10. Running back Brenden Baker (Cibolo Steele) sealed the game late in the fourth quarter with a 33-yard touchdown run, giving UTSA and Harris a historic win as the Roadrunners began just their eleventh-ever season of football.

WR Lawrence Arnold: Kansas R-FR (DeSoto HS)

Kansas hadn’t won since October 26, 2019, but the Jayhawks knew they had a big chance to get in the win column as they took on South Dakota on Friday night.

Lawrence Arnold certainly rose to the occasion. Late in the second half, Kansas quarterback Jason Bean (Mansfield Lake Ridge) lobbed a pass to Arnold in the end zone. Arnold leaped up and made an acrobatic catch, contorting his body to ensure he got a foot in bounds for an eight-yard touchdown that put Kansas up 7-0.

That Bean to Arnold connection would prove crucial again in the fourth. With just over a minute left and Kansas down 14-10, Bean found Arnold on a hitch route. Arnold caught the pass before spinning around South Dakota defenders and racing in for an eight-yard touchdown to put Kansas up 17-14, sealing its first victory in nearly two years.

Arnold only finished with three catches for 33 yards, but he had the two most important grabs of the game as he helped Kansas get the Lance Leipold era in Lawrence off to a perfect start.

Arnold’s eight-yard touchdown catch (Courtesy of Kansas Football): https://twitter.com/KU_Football/status/1433969248196567044

WR Erik Ezukanma: Texas Tech JR. (Fort Worth Timber Creek HS)

Ezukanma had a big sophomore year for Texas Tech in 2020, catching 46 passes for 748 yards in just 10 games. He had a field day against Houston on Saturday night. He started off with a bang, catching 4 passes for 67 yards on Texas Tech’s first offensive drive of the season and didn’t look back from there.

He added three more catches in the second half, including a 32-yard catch on a drive that ended in an eight-yard Taylor Shough rushing touchdown and a huge 50-yard catch that helped seal the game as he fended off a Houston defender and came down with a big-time grab. In total, he finished with seven catches for 179 yards on the night.

After playing a key role in Texas Tech’s come from behind 38-21 victory over Houston, expect to hear Ezukanma’s name plenty in the Big 12 this year.

CB Isaiah Essissima: Nevada Jr. (Fort Bend Hightower HS)

Essissima transferred to Nevada this offseason after appearing in 16 games for Wake Forest over the past two seasons. He certainly made his name known on Saturday night. With Nevada up 22-17 on California, Golden Bears quarterback Chase Garbers looked to air one out to get California a big chunk play.

Essissima had other ideas.

He skied up and came down with an acrobatic pick that allowed Nevada to burn off three more minutes of the clock offensively as the Wolfpack held on for a 22-17 upset victory over California. Essissima finished with four tackles, but his interception ended up being one of the biggest plays of the night in Nevada’s upset win.

QB Bailey Zappe Western Kentucky G-TR (Victoria East)

Bailey Zappe is used to letting the ball fly after four years of running Houston Baptist’s air-raid offense. Don’t expect anything to change this season. The Western Kentucky graduate transfer lit up the scoreboard on Saturday, throwing for touchdowns of 73, 10, 22, 8, 7, 45, and 3 yards.

He finished with 424 yards passing, his sixth career 400-yard passing game, and seven touchdowns as the Hilltoppers romped to a 59-21 victory over UT-Martin. With Zappe’s prior experience for Houston Baptist, it wouldn’t be a surprise to see him leading an explosive Hilltopper offense all season long.