Mark McBath
| James Mark McBath | |
|---|---|
| College | Texas |
| Conference | Southwest Conference |
| Sport | Football |
| Position | Quarterback |
| Jersey # | 17 |
| Class | 1980 |
| Major | Biology |
| Career | 1976–1978 |
| Height | 5 ft 11 in (1.80 m) |
| Weight | 188 lb (85 kg) |
| Born |
November 18, 1957 Fort Smith, Arkansas |
| High school | Richard King High School |
| Championships | |
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| Bowl games | |
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James Mark McBath, M.D. (born November 18, 1957) is a former American football player who started as quarterback for the Texas Longhorns in the late 1970s. He was the starting quarterback in Darrell Royal's last game.
Mark McBath was a highly recruited high school quarterback who played at Richard King High School in Corpus Christi. He was All City once and All District and All South Texas two years in a row. He also made the All District team as a center fielder for the baseball team. [[File:|thumb|alt=Mark McBath as a senior at King High School.|]]
Mark McBath's career at Texas was marked by an early rise, an unfortunate injury, a spectacular finish and a surprising early departure.
McBath arrived at the University of Texas in 1976 as the back-up to Randy McEachern, Ted Constanzo and Mike Cordaro and was competing with fellow freshman Jon Aune for the fourth-string role. But an injury to McEachern in August, and inconsistent play by Constanzo and Cordaro, led Darrell Royal to put McBath in as starter as a true freshman. He started four games that season, going 2–2, including a loss to number 11 Texas A&M and a victory over Arkansas after Coach Royal announced that it would be his last game as Texas' head coach.
McBath started the 1977 season as the starting quarterback and led Texas to three consecutive wins and the number 4 ranking, while sharing playing time with Jon Aune. But his season was sidelined when he broke his ankle on the seventh play of the Oklahoma game. He was diagnosed with a loose ankle ligament and placed in a cast for over two months. He was out for the rest of the season while Texas went undefeated and played in the Cotton Bowl for the National Championship.
The following spring, McBath was unable to go full speed in drills because of his recovering ankle. As a result, McEachern was named the starter one week prior to the season opener, with McBath relegated to the third string. McEachern and Donnie Little took most of the snaps that season, with McBath getting mop-up duty against Rice and TCU, until Texas was upset by unranked Baylor late in the season. In that game, McBath got a larger portion of the playing time and threw three interceptions. For reasons that Akers never stated, McBath was given the start the next week, in the final regular-season game against Texas A&M. He led number 14 Texas to a 22–7 victory and was named the Chevrolet Offensive Player of the Game. He was given the start again in the Sun Bowl game against Maryland and they won in a 42–0 rush-dominated blowout.
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