Taylor Heinicke Makes History
New Hampshire quarterback Andy Vailas threw for five touchdowns and 336 yards against Old Dominion Saturday in Colonial Athletic Association play. Normally, that kind of performance receives a lot of attention.
In this game, though, Vailas was an afterthought. All his ODU counterpart, Taylor Heinicke, College Sports Madness’ National Offensive Player of the Week, did was complete 55 of 79 passes for 730 yards to rally the Monarchs to an amazing 64-61 triumph.
Digest these numbers that Heinicke, a 19-year-old true sophomore from suburban Atlanta, GA, put up at Foreman Field in Norfolk, VA:
* The 730 passing yards is an NCAA Division I record, breaking the previous mark held by Houston’s David Klingler (716 yards) in 1990. The former FCS record was held by Weber State’s Jamie Martin, who threw for 624 yards against Idaho State in 1991.
* The 791 passing and rushing yards is an overall NCAA record.
* Heinicke set school records for completions (55), attempts (79) and passing yards (730).
“I’m at a loss for words,” ODU coach Bobby Wilder said. “I’ve been involved in some high-scoring games, but nothing like this. He (Heinicke) has no limits on what he can do.”
This was only Heinicke’s 13th game of his college career, too. The Old Spice Player of the Year in the state of Georgia as a high school senior, Heinicke’s 4,218 career passing yards ranks second in Georgia state history. But at only 6-foot, 1 inch, the knock on Heinicke was that he was too small to play major college football.
Following the game, the headline on one website proclaimed: “Little-known QB makes history.” It’s a guarantee that this FCS QB just made a big name for himself.
