Jamelle Holieway
No. 4 | |
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Position: | Wilmington, California) |
College: | Oklahoma |
Undrafted: | 1989 |
Career history | |
Career highlights and awards | |
Jamelle Holieway (born June 25, 1967) is an American former college and professional football player who was a quarterback for the University of Oklahoma. He led the Oklahoma Sooners to a national championship in 1985.
Holieway is considered one of the greatest option quarterbacks in
College career
At Oklahoma, he took over for an injured Troy Aikman in his freshman year in the Miami game when Jerome Brown and Dan Sileo broke Aikman's leg. Holieway led the Sooners to an 11–1–0 record under Coach Barry Switzer and won the 1986 Orange Bowl against the Penn State Nittany Lions for the national championship. Holieway threw a 71-yard touchdown pass in that game to All-American tight end Keith Jackson. Holieway was the first true freshman quarterback to lead his team to the national title.[1]
Holieway tore the
The injury plagued Holieway for the remainder of the 1988 season, and he eventually lost his starting job to Charles Thompson. Thompson, however, broke his leg on the final play of the Nebraska game on November 19, 1988, so Holieway became the starter again for the Citrus Bowl vs. Clemson, in a 13–6 loss on January 2, 1989.
Holieway finished his Sooner career with 2,713 yards rushing on 539 attempts (an average of 5.0 yards per carry) and 32 touchdowns. Through the air, he threw 257 times, completing 117 passes for 2,430 yards with 22 touchdowns and 15 interceptions. His passing efficiency rating was 84.9 over 39 collegiate games.[2]
Later on, Holieway acknowledged that he received favors from school boosters and Coach Switzer, but denied ever receiving any cash payments.[3]
College statistics
Season | Passing | Rushing | ||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Cmp | Att | Pct | Yds | TD | Int | Att | Yds | Avg | TD | |
1985 | 27 | 64 | 42.1 | 608 | 6 | 2 | 173 | 862 | 5.0 | 9 |
1986 | 32 | 66 | 48.5 | 588 | 4 | 6 | 146 | 807 | 5.5 | 10 |
1987 | 21 | 62 | 33.9 | 548 | 7 | 4 | 142 | 860 | 6.1 | 10 |
1988 | 37 | 65 | 56.9 | 686 | 6 | 3 | 78 | 184 | 2.4 | 3 |
Totals[4] | 117 | 257 | 45.5 | 2,430 | 23 | 15 | 539 | 2,713 | 5.0 | 32 |
Professional career
Holieway played professionally for the National Football League's Los Angeles Raiders (1989–1990) and the Canadian Football League's BC Lions (1991–1992).
Personal life
Holieway still lives in Oklahoma and spends much of his summers coaching football camps.[1]
References
- ^ a b Wharton, David (January 5, 2018). "Oklahoma's Jamelle Holieway is the only true freshman quarterback to lead his team to a national title, Georgia's Jake Fromm could be the second". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved January 8, 2019.
- ^ "Jamelle Holieway Career Stats". Soonerstats.com. 2000. Archived from the original on December 17, 2006. Retrieved January 1, 2006.
- ^ Almond, Elliott (December 8, 1989). "Holieway Says He Got Booster Favors". Los Angeles Times. Los Angeles Times.
- ^ "TOTALFOOTBALLSTATS.COM - Oklahoma Sooners". TotalFootballStats.com. Retrieved January 20, 2013.