Big 12 Football: Top 20 quarterbacks since 2000
By Andrew Tineo
Career Stats: 7,922 passing yards, 81 touchdowns, 24 interceptions
The oldest quarterback on this list comes from the quarterback that was taking the conference by storm before the No. 1 player got his turn in the spotlight.
Jason White’s beginning to his career, was filled with limited opportunities. After serving as the backup in 1999 with Josh Heupel, White redshirted his 2000 season.
White served a tough road prior to stepping on the field, with consecutive anterior cruciate ligament tears. It required knee surgeries on both knees and vacate his 2001 and 2002 seasons before he got the day one start for the Sooners.
White took the keys to the Oklahoma offense and sped past everyone in his path. Dismantling Big 12 teams left and right, showing no remorse, the Sooners were on track for the national championship: 65-13 over Texas, 52-9 over No. 14 Oklahoma State, 77-0 over Texas A&M.
The team was the consensus No. 1 from the preseason all the way up to the final regular-season game. In a true David vs. Goliath situation, Oklahoma matched up with No. 13 Kansas State. Although the Wildcats were a respectable Big 12 North champion, no one gave them a shot.
With a Heisman Trophy and national championship in the back of the Sooners’ heads, they looked past the Wildcats. Kansas State blew out the Sooners, while White threw for no touchdowns and two interceptions.
Their bowl game with LSU was not better, as he threw for two more interceptions and suffocated under the pressure in a 21-14 loss.
Fortunately for White and the Sooners, they reloaded in 2004 and ran the gauntlet once again, eviscerating the Big 12. Not quite as dominant as 2003, but finished the season undefeated. Wins over Houston and Oregon headlined the non-con, while beating Texas, Texas A&M and Oklahoma State in three of five games had the Sooner prepped.
Against a less talented Colorado in the Big 12 title game, White and the Sooners left no doubt with a 42-3 win. White had another fantastic year, throwing for 3,205 yards and 33 touchdowns while finishing third in the Heisman voting.
Once again, when the lights got the brightest, White could not deliver. Against Reggie Bush and Matt Leinart, USC blew out the Sooners, while White threw three interceptions.
White going from complete knee surgeries and risk of ending his playing career to two national championships and becoming the Heisman winner goes down as one of the least talked about journeys a college player has ever gone through.
Besides the national championship, White checked the boxes.