He graduated from Illinois and is playing his final year at Texas A&M Kingsville.

He had to compete for the starting job and got it.

Texas A&M-Kingsville senior quarterback Billy Garza hasn't played a football game in almost five years.

Not since 2003, when he completed his high school career at Brownsville Porter, has Garza set up behind center with fans in the stands.

After four frustrating seasons at Illinois, he has returned to South Texas, emerging as the starter for the Division II Javelinas going into their season opener Thursday at North Dakota.

Since then:

The Hogs boast a top ranked offense and run stopping defense. Quarterback Billy Garza (Brownsville/Porter HS) has guided the offense to an average of 463 yards per game, 16th in the nation. The passing offense has been even better averaging 312 yards per game, 11th nationally.


Texas A&M-Kingsville is 3-1

Billy Garza 4 games 997 yards 8 TD 3 INT avg. 249 yards.

Has received player of the week honors.

NCAA II

Texas A&M-Kingsville players that played in the NFL.

* Gene Upshaw, NFL Hall of Famer, former Executive Director of the NFLPA
* Roberto Garza, NFL lineman for the Chicago Bears
* Darrell Green, NFL Hall of Famer, retired cornerback
* Al Harris, NFL Cornerback for the Green Bay Packers
* Jim Hill, former NFL player for the Green Bay Packers and San Diego Chargers, Sports anchor at KCBS-TV in Los Angeles
* John Randle, retired NFL defensive tackle
* Dwayne Nix, College Football Hall of Famer
* Johnny Bailey, former NFL running back
* Jermane Mayberry, NFL Guard for the New Orleans Saints


Others........
* Eva Longoria, actress & model
* Kimberly A. Scott, actress
* Ricardo Sanchez, U.S. Army Lt. General

That is a very impressive list of NFL players for such a small school, but what does this have to do with anything?

Easy thunder......

Seriously, it's good that Garza is having success, but why should we care that some actress I've never heard of and a Lt. General in the army attended your school? Are we supposed to be impressed by that?

Just for comparison, I graduated from Eastern Illinois University, a small state school most people know very little about. Here are some of our alumns:

NFL Players/Coaches

Tony Romo -- Starting Quarterback for the Dallas Cowboys
Mike Shanahan -- Head Coach (Broncos)
Sean Payton -- Head Coach (Saints)
Brad Childress -- Head Coach (Vikings)
John Jurkovic -- former Defensive Lineman (Green Bay Packers and Jacksonville Jaguars)
Jeff Gossett - Pro Bowl Punter (LA/Oakland Raiders)
Ted Peterson -- former Offensive Lineman, Pittsburgh Steelers
Roy Banks -- former wide receiver, Indianapolis Colts
Ray McElroy -- former defensive back, Indianapolis Colts
Ray Fisher -- former lineman, Pittsburgh Steelers
Chris Watson -- former cornerback, Buffalo Bills
Bill Glenn -- former quarterback, Chicago Bears

Other Athletes:

Kevin Duckworth, former National Basketball Association all-star center
Marty Pattin, former MLB All-Star pitcher
Kevin Seitzer - former all-star Major League Baseball player
Tim Bogar - former Major League Baseball infielder
Dan Steele, track All-American, 400-meter National Champion, and Bronze Medalist at the 2002 Salt Lake City Olympics
John Craft -- 1972 US Olympion, Triple Jump (placed 5th)
Matt Hughes, professional MMA fighter

Others:

Joan Allen, actress
Jim Edgar, Governor of Illinois from 1991 to 1999
Joan Embery, environmental activist
Paul N. Hopkins, CEO (Chief Executive Officer) of Farmers Insurance Group
Burl Ives, actor and folk singer
Charlotte Martin, singer-songwriter
John Malkovich, actor
Larry Smith, CNN Headline News sports anchor
Jerry Van Dyke, actor

Dude... chillax. Seriously. The guy is touting his school and their former-Illini QB, and you're accusing him of "over the top homerism"? Really?

I like the update, falcon. Thanks. And I'll admit that on Sunday night while watching the Packer/Cowboy game, when Harris said "Texas A&M - Kingsville" in the intros, I thought "isn't that where Billy Garza transferred?" My brain is full of way too many useless facts about fringe Illini players.

I heard really good things about Billy after a Texas High School all star game. All my Texas friends were telling me how great he was going to be for the Illini.

Sorry he never made the field. Glad to see things are working out for him at Kinsgville.

Good for him. I remember there was a lot of excitment about him when he committed. Glad to see he is going out and having success.

While we are talking about former illini qb recruits, anyone got a kisan flakes update?

I looked up has stats on the Albany State (Ga.) website.

Looks like they are 3-0 so far. Flakes is 30-48 for 444 yards and 4 TD in their first three games. He also has rushed 31 times for 104 yards and 2 TDs.

Resurrecting this thread - Billy Garza's A&M Kingsville team lost a thriller in the D-II playoffs, 57-56 in OT. Sounds like it would have been an amazing game. The opponents (Tarleton St.) converted a 4th and 22 on their last drive and then kicked a 64-yard field goal to send it into OT. A&M Kingsville scored at TD in OT, and Tarleton St's QB made an incredible run (see the video) on 4th and 5 to score a TD. They made the 2-point conversion to win and end Garza's career.

Link to Local TV Station's Story (Plus Video)

In other news, Brad Bower is an all-conference performer at Parkland College, and Chris Pazan is rewriting the record books at Urbana Middle School.

Dustin Ward's wherabouts remain unknown.

But seriously, good for Garza.

Another Turner recruit.

Sorry to nitpick, but can't let you have this one for EIU. He attended EIU, but graduated, and thus, is an alum of ISU. Go Birds!

FYI - Dustin Ward is the O Coordinator at Depauw University in Indiana http://www.depauw.edu/ath/profile_detail.asp?id=610

Think we can afford to bring him in as a co-offensive coordinator next year? Or maybe the guy that tells Zook to take a time out on occasion.

I do understand the point of highlighting these guys, and I am happy for them, but what I think is funny (not wrong, just amusing) is listing their numbers as a sign of great success. Why? Because our quarterback has some of the best numbers in the Big Ten...ever! The best numbers associated with the two ex-Illini QB's are the ones in the win - loss column! I wish big numbers always translated into wins, just another wonderful fun fact of the Ron Zook Era!

[quote name='WhiteRhino' date='Sep 24 2008, 04:48 PM' post='72678']
That is a very impressive list of NFL players for such a small school, but what does this have to do with anything?
[/quote
Absolutely nothing...but I'd take Eva as #1 draft choice.

I agree. Randle and Green were as good at their positions as anyone I've ever seen. And Johnny Bailey will always hold a special place for me as "the guy who was just fast enough that it wouldn't totally destroy my Tecmo Super Bowl season if Neal Anderson got injured."