 "Photo: Jordan Gomez")
His first experience was memorable, for both John Chiles and Texas fans.
The freshman's night began with a simple play for no gain in the first quarter. But that play set up a 72-yard rushing night for the backup quarterback in Saturday's 58-14 win over Rice.
"It was pretty exciting," Chiles said. "I got a chance to get out there and show a little bit of what I can do."
On Texas' 17th snap of the game, Chiles trotted onto the field and stood next to starting quarterback Colt McCoy.
Then, in a move that seemed a little odd given the nature of the two athletes, McCoy sprinted to the left slot position and let Chiles take the shotgun snap.
Chiles never looked to McCoy, though the play was a run designed for the fast, shifty dual-threat quarterback. Chiles tried running up the middle, but found little room and barely made it back to the line of scrimmage.
Due to the uneventful play, Chiles officially became the team's backup and lost his ability to redshirt this season.
It could've easily been the other way around. But when redshirt freshman Sherrod Harris came up hurt in fall camp, things changed.
"My first intentions were, I think, to redshirt. Coming into January I just wanted to basically learn the system so I could become a better quarterback," Chiles said. "But once [Harris] got hurt I kind of looked at the situation and talked to the coaches."
Though Harris also saw his first action Saturday during Texas' final two possessions, Chiles was the second half's main feature after taking over quarterback duties beginning with the second Texas drive of the third quarter.
And when he was about to enter the game with a 48-7 lead, the rest of the team started clapping and giving him encouragement.
Chiles responded by carrying the ball four of his first five snaps and giving teammates and fans alike reasons to cheer by leading Texas to a touchdown using zone-read plays and handing it off to fellow backup runner Vondrell McGee.
"We just told him to go out there and do what he does best," said wide receiver Quan Cosby. "He seemed very relaxed. He's a great athlete, great quarterback.
"Y'all saw what he's made of, which is pretty promising."
Begging the question, why did it take three weeks to get Chiles into a game?
The simple answer is, until Saturday's game, Texas never had a comfortable enough lead.
"What you didn't want to do is put him in the game when it was on the line and tremendous amount of pressure and him maybe not have a great experience his first time he walked out there," said Texas coach Mack Brown. "What we were trying to do was find the right setting for him."
Rice finally provided a situation where Chiles could get three games' worth of built up anxiety out of the way.
"It does feel good," Chiles said. "I was a little nervous, but it's over with now."
The nerves, that is. Not his time as quarterback for the Longhorns.
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