Lying in Wait: Jake Hubenak's opportunity to shine for Texas A&M

The Texas A&M depth chart lied.

Well, that’s the way Georgetown High School football coach Jason Dean feels. He saw it, but didn’t believe it.

Just like everyone else, Dean saw Jake Hubenak — his former Georgetown Eagles quarterback — listed as a third-teamer by the Aggies. Lists can lie.

That was another fallacy.

True, Hubenak was listed behind Kyle Allen and Kyler Murray on the depth chart. But Dean says there is no way Hubenak was a “third-string” quarterback.

“The only people calling Jake a third-string quarterback are guys in the media,” Dean said last week. “If you have an honest conversation with coaches at A&M and players in the locker room those guys will tell you Jake wasn’t a third-string quarterback.

“He’s fixing to do great things.”

The Aggies hope those great things begin against Louisville in the Music City Bowl.

The surprising announcements that Allen and Murray were transferring vaulted Hubenak into the starting lineup against the Louisville defense, which is ranked 13th in the nation.

At most, Aggies are hopeful Hubenak will ride into Nashville and rescue A&M’s distressed offense like a knight in shining armor, so bringing in another Knight won’t be necessary.

At least, Aggies are hopeful he will end the A&M post-Manziel quarterback exodus in which Allen, Murray, Kenny Hill, Matt Davis and Matt Joeckel left for other programs.

Dean believes Hubenak will do both.

"Jake obviously can throw. He threw for almost 5,000 yards in high school,” Dean said. “He’s a good decision-maker. He has the arm to make all the throws.

“Jake is a great leader. The guy is going to be able to run the offense. Jake is like having another coach on the field. What he did so well for us is get guys lined up in the right position and then made the throws to make it happen. He has a great arm and leadership ability.”

Dean was so fond of Hubenak that he nicknamed him “Seabiscuit” because of a line in a movie about the famed racehorse.

“Did you see the movie? The jockey said the horse would do anything in the world for you. All you need to do is show him the whip. You didn’t have to prod him. Just show him the whip.”

Dean said he never had to prod Hubenak to excel on and off the field. Just let Hubenak know what you wanted from him (show him the whip) and he would do it.

He did everything Dean asked and perhaps more.

Hubenak was 19-1 as a starter for Georgetown in 2011 and 2012. He passed for 4,108 yards and 48 touchdowns as a senior while leading the Eagles to the Class 4A championship game.

They lost that 2012 championship game, 48-37, to Denton Guyer, but Hubenak played well. He passed for 318 yards and three touchdowns and rushed for 60 yards.

So, Hubenak was a high-character guy. He had a good arm and made great decisions. He’s posted impressive statistics and led his team to championships.

Yet, he wasn’t highly recruited out of Georgetown High School. In fact, he was a no-star recruit.

That’s because his story is a lot like another former Austin-area quarterback that wasn’t highly recruited — Westlake’s Drew Brees.

Like Brees, Hubenak sustained a torn ACL late in his junior season. Therefore, he wasn’t seen when college scouts made recruiting visits in the spring.

“It would have been more beneficial for Jake – not the team, but Jake – to get hurt as a senior,” Dean said. “Quarterbacks in this day and age – especially big-time Division I quarterbacks – get scholarship offers sometimes before their junior years.

“When Jake was going into his junior year he had tons of Big 12 schools interested in him. Once he got hurt it fell off. A lot of coaches came back in the spring (following his senior year), but there the question in the back of their minds was how would his knee hold up once in contact? Most schools in the spring had already made offers to their guy (at quarterback). It was just odd circumstances.”

You probably know the story from there.

Hubanek decided to walk on at Oklahoma State. After a year there, he transferred to Blinn Junior College. In 2014 he completed 64.9 percent of his passes while throwing for 4,052 yards and 47 touchdowns for the Buccaneers.

Then, last year he was a late addition to A&M’s recruiting class. He was largely viewed as something of an insurance policy in case Allen or Murray transferred.

Who’d have guessed both would leave and he would become the starter?

Dean would have.

He would have guessed Hubenak would become the starter whether the others transferred or not.

Remember the movie? Seabiscuit always overcame the odds to finish first.

“I know Aggies are nervous now,” Dean said. “But I think Texas A&M is really going to be proud.”