Brent Rausch is the unlikely winner of the battle to succeed the record-breaking Colt Brennan as the starting quarterback at UH, beating out fourth-year junior Inoke Funaki and fellow junior college transfer Greg Alexander for the job.
It's a remarkable development considering that Rausch is just two years removed from playing eight-man football for a tiny high school in Southern California and one year removed from his first experience with the 11-man game at College of Desert, where played with a handful of former MIL athletes.
But Rausch showed he could adapt to a new challenge at the JC level, throwing for 2,653 yards and 28 touchdowns as a freshman, earning MVP honors in the school's victory in the Empire Bowl.
He signed with UH last spring, took part in voluntary workouts over the summer and got off to a slow start during fall camp. In fact, most folks figured he ranked third on the depth chart as recently as last week.
But the 6-foot-4 Rausch's arm strength, confidence and accuracy finally swayed the coaching staff into giving him the distinction – dubious, some will say – of leading UH into the Aug. 30 season-opener against nationally fifth-ranked Florida.
The contrast in QBs in Gainesville that afternoon couldn't be more dramatic. Tim Tebow arrived in Florida as one of the nation's most highly touted freshmen and last season became the first sophomore ever to win the Heisman Trophy.
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