College Football: 25 Greatest Quarterbacks of the 21st century
By John Scimeca
Although he received recruiting attention from Baylor, UTEP, and North Texas, the only top-level college to offer two-star high school prospect Case Keenum a scholarship was the University of Houston. The Brownwood, Texas native hasn’t looked back since.
To make the argument for Keenum’s position on this list of quarterbacks is simple: it’s all about the superlatives. Keenum finished his time with the Cougars in 2011 as college football’s all-time career leader in completions (1,546), passing yards (19,217), and passing touchdowns (155).
Keenum is also the only quarterback in college football history to throw for more than 5,000 yards in three different seasons. To showcase the consistent production that he brought as quarterback, he holds the record for most 300-yard passing games (39).
In 2010, Keenum began what was supposed to be his senior season at Houston. Three games into the year, he tore his ACL against UCLA, and he was allowed a sixth year of eligibility by the NCAA (he had redshirted upon arriving on campus in 2006).
His senior year in 2011 was Keenum’s best in a Houston jersey: he threw for 5,631 yards, 48 touchdowns, and only five interceptions while compiling a 174.5 passer rating. His efforts, however, only earned him the seventh-most Heisman votes, as Baylor’s Robert Griffin III took home the top honors.
The case for not placing Keenum higher up on this list? He mostly played against Conference USA competition and did not lead his team to a standout year until his final season, in 2011 — when the Cougars finished the season 13-1 and No. 18 in the final AP poll. In the C-USA title game, Houston lost to Southern Miss 49-28 as Keenum completed 41-of-67 passes for two touchdowns and two interceptions.