Twenty-three of 28, 252 yards and two touchdowns. Yes there were two interceptions, but a calm and controlled Quinn Mecham was a key piece in the Jayhawks' miraculous come-from-behind victory over the Colorado Buffaloes.
Headed into the game you have to believe that the Kansas staff wasn't necessarily going with Mecham for a spark. Most likely Jordan Webb and Kale Pick were still on the sideline due to injuries sustained two weeks ago against Texas A&M. A week of ambiguous and noncommittal statements about the starter weren't likely due to Mecham impressing so much in Ames that the staff had to consider him for the job, but more a decision made out of necessity.
Either way the "mighty Quinn" as he's been somewhat jokingly referred to has reopened the door to the quarterback position at Kansas with his performance on Saturday. At the start of the year Kale Pick was named the Jayhawks' starter only to be replaced a week later by Jordan Webb, who pulled off a shocking turnaround and a win against the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets.
Since then Webb has been a typical redshirt freshman quarterback learning a system. Sometimes he's looked very good, other times he's looked lost. Now another shocking turnaround, one in which Mecham was part of the equation, has raised the same questions that surrounded the position early in the year.
When Mecham signed with Kansas he was viewed as someone that would compete to replace the departing Todd Reesing. A year ago at the junior college level in Utah he had thrown for over 3000 yards and showed an ability to manage a spread offense. Strangely enough he became a bit of a ghost in Lawrence until injury forced him into the role.
Pick, Webb, Pick, Webb...who would it be? Absent from all the discussion, Quinn Mecham. Honestly it's somewhat easy to see why. He doesn't have an impressive arm, he isn't very mobile and in a practice setting he probably doesn't turn many heads. What he did on Saturday in a game, did.
After a rocky start, Mecham settled in. He doesn't seem to get rattled, he goes through a progression and he has the ability to make a read even when option one isn't open. The game plan is kept fairly simple and running the football is the top priority but with an over 80% completion percentage it's hard to ignore even the most unassuming quarterback during a comeback win like Saturday's.
Now just as the Kansas win over Colorado should be taken in context, so too should the performance of their potential new quarterback. No he didn't set the world on fire and long-term he isn't shifting the tide of a program the way Reesing did. But as the Jayhawks head into the final three games of the year, three games in which they'll be the underdog and three games in which they'll have nothing to lose, Quinn Mecham could be the guy to give Kansas an outside shot at pulling another shocker.
Balance, efficient, ball control offense and a few lucky breaks along the way. The trio of Nebraska, Oklahoma State and Missouri present a gauntlet of sorts, but it's a wild year in college football and crazier things have happened.