Everything is different for a college quarterback. The pressure is different, the playbook is different, the game is different — even the recruiting process is different. Sometimes it can seem like there are seven forks in the road when it comes to the depth chart — and six of them are dead ends. A new coaching staff could come in and change the offense from pro-style to the wishbone and you're out of luck and relegated to the third string after coming in as a blue chipper.
For Sam Houston State quarterback Jeremiah Briscoe, it wasn't any of the above. It was worse. He had the entire college program he played for yanked out from under him like a 10-cent rug, and he had to dust himself off with no help — not exactly the adversity college players usually deal with. In December of 2014, he was a redshirt freshman at FBS program UAB and had just completed the season (3 TDs and for 361 yards in six games) when he attended a mandatory team meeting.
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The Blazers' football program was being extinguished.
Here's this quarterback who once was committed to Baylor, then switched to Arkansas — only to have Razorbacks' coach Bobby Petrino get hammered by the NCAA. He looked around and UAB was the fit. His recruitment was up-and-down enough, then this UAB madness? But this story has a happy ending. Brisco found a new home at Sam Houston State.
Sam Houston State QB Jeremiah Briscoe has thrown 57 TDs just this year (Photo credit SHSU athletics)
"It's definitely been a roller coaster, but I'm a firm believer in the idea that everything happens for a reason," Briscoe told HERO Sports. "I never would have imagined I'd end up at Sam Houston State and I never imagined I'd be at UAB, and yet it's all turned out to be the best thing that's happened to me."
No kidding. He did have a minor scare this past weekend in the second round of the FCS Playoffs against Chattanooga when he was hit and missed several plays. He had an MRI on his throwing arm Monday, which came up 'clean' according to head coach K.C. Keeler, so he'll take it easy in practice this week. He will be ready for the biggest college start of his career on Friday at James Madison in the FCS Quarterfinals. The game kicks off at 7 p.m. Eastern Time and will be broadcast on ESPN2.
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So obviously, it hasn't been the easiest road to success. That UAB meeting still sticks in his craw.
"Honestly, I don't know that you could put that atmosphere into words," Briscoe said. "We found out literally at the same time everybody else did. We found out at the meeting hours before the rest of the world found out. There was a lot of shock and emotion. We had worked so hard to get bowl eligible and it was the first time in 10 years we'd be going. Everything was going in the right direction and we had it ripped out from under us for political reasons. There was no real foundation for doing it, it was just politics.
"It was the hardest thing to understand, and you have to think about the effect it had on people's lives off the field, not just ours. All of those jobs. All of a sudden we're a week before finals and we're thinking about how we're going to now jump into finals and then how can we get out of an apartment lease and bills without paying big fines. And then try to figure out where to go to school and even how to just get home. There were guys that with UAB, that's all they had and all they'd ever had."
All of that turmoil makes what is happening this year with the Bearkats even sweeter. The team is 12-0 — only the second time in the program's 104-year history that has happened (the other time being 2011). Briscoe has been clearly one of the biggest reasons for the way this season has gone, throwing for more than 4,400 yards and 57 touchdowns. Oh, and his NFL Draft stock? It is rising — rapidly — for the NFL 2018 Draft Class. He is rated the No. 16 quarterback and ascending by NFLDraftScout.com. To put that into perspective, the NFL has drafted an average of 12 to 13 quarterbacks a year over the past five drafts. If you do the math, you can see that another stellar season as a senior will undoubtedly shoot him higher up the ranks in the eyes of NFL scouts.
Briscoe makes the tough throws today. He has great receivers to throw to, but there's no question he makes this offense go.
"Coach (Phil) Longo did a very good job recruiting (Briscoe) to come play for us," Sam Houston State star receiver Yedidiah Louis told HERO Sports. "Last year he split the job with Jared (Johnson), but Jared didn't want to share time this year and transferred (to Texas-San Antonio) and it left Briscoe by himself. Last year he gained some experience in our offense so this year he already knew what was going on. He didn't have to focus as much as last year, he could just play… Briscoe is just spreading the ball around, and he knows he can't go wrong no matter who he throws to on our team."
There's no question he's finally in a groove. He has his team in national title contention, he has another year to go, and NFL scouts are noticing. To paraphrase the movie Shawshank Redemption, sometimes you have to wade through a mile of filth before you can come out clean on the other side. It's the classic case of staring adversity in the face and ultimately winning, something Briscoe knows something about.
