The backup quarterback on a football team can often find himself as the most popular guy in town. Adored by the fanbase, the posterchild of success, and a savior for any struggling offense if the coach would only let him play. When an offense struggles, every fan wants to see the backup quarterback get their opportunity. Until the backup comes in and makes a few errant throws or commits a turnover and then he's a bum, along with the guy he replaced in the lineup.
Life as a backup quarterback has its challenges. In most cases, you’re rarely needed. In other cases, the starter gets hurt and you get thrown into the mix down 21 points to your team’s most hated rival. This was the situation Henry Colombi found himself in last weekend and he performed admirably in the face of such adversity. Pro Football Focus listing him as the third highest graded quarterback in week four of college football.
One thing that makes being the backup quarterback so difficult is the lack of practice preparation throughout the week. You can watch film and go through the plays in your head and on the practice field, but there is no substitute for in-game experience. The Red Raiders have the added benefit here with Colombi because he’s not your typical inexperienced backup. He played in six games for the Red Raiders a season ago, starting in four, and put up 1,065 yards and eight touchdowns through the air while adding another 103 yards and a touchdown on the ground. Colombi played well at times last season, beating West Virginia in his first career start.
With a different scheme around the quarterback in 2021, Colombi could stand to benefit from playing in a new offensive system under Sonny Cumbie. “I think the big difference this year (with the offense), is having the ability to slow down when you need to,” said Colombi. “Last year we were strictly up tempo and this year we have the ability to go under center or huddle up when we need to. Coach Cumbie knows the quarterbacks, knows their talents, and calls plays that are more to their strengths.”
Colombi noted that over the offseason, one thing he wanted to add to his game for this season was progressing further through his reads. “I think going through my reads more. Last year typically if my first or second reads weren’t there I was looking to run. This year I’m trying to hang in the pocket more and extend the play downfield instead of just taking off with it.”
Colombi did just that last weekend and was able to extend plays downfield on multiple occasions. There’s an art to throwing the deep ball and Colombi was painting Picassos on the field, connecting for touchdowns passes of 40, 69, and 75 yards and finished the game 17 of 23 (73.9%) for 324 yards and three scores against Texas. Being down 21 points, you’re going to be more willing to "let it fly" and take chances throwing the ball downfield, but Colombi was still able to find success running an offense that struggled to consistently move the football for the better part of the first half.
Going forward and into today's West Virginia game, it’s imperative that the Texas Tech offensive line controls the line of scrimmage. Controlling the line, not only in pass blocking by giving Colombi enough time to throw the football, but also establishing the run and making life easier for the quarterback by setting up short yard attempts on second-and-third down. Colombi said coming into this season “I want to make a bowl game this year, we came up short on that last year. Also, I was Big 12 honorable mention and I’d like to take it a step further this year.”
The opportunity is now in the hands of Colombi, as he gets the chance to work towards completing the goals he set out for himself this season. He’ll get started this afternoon in Morgantown, West Virginia.
