Heard shows smarts beyond his years by taking Texas by the Horns

AUSTIN, TX - SEPTEMBER 19: Jerrod Heard #13 of the Texas Longhorns scrambles for a 2 yard touchdown run against the California Golden Bears during the first quarter on September 19, 2015 at Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium in Austin, Texas. (Photo by Cooper Neill/Getty Images)

Texas redshirt freshman quarterback Jerrod Heard has quickly become a team leader. Cooper Neill Getty Images

Ever since Jerrod Heard took over as Texas' starting quarterback, he has proved he is a freshman in name only.

His breathtaking performances have shown the poise of a veteran. And when Texas has needed a level-headed voice during difficult times, the redshirt freshman delivered there, too, commenting that he would confiscate his teammates' phones to prevent any further tweeting. And now, when this team so not used to handling big wins could be feeling high on itself after the euphoric win over Oklahoma, here comes Heard to deflate their chests.

"We don't want to get too lax," Heard told reporters during the Longhorns' weekly media conference. "We had a great win, but we still have stuff to do. We can't get caught up with what happened two weeks ago. Right now, we're working hard every day and preparing for a good team in Kansas State."

After all, it's not like the Longhorns have solved the world's problems. They've still got plenty of their own like reaching .500 before a talk of a bowl game can even get started. The Horns are 2-4 and now 1-2 in the Big 12 with a great chance to make a run against a slate of weaker conference opponents.

It's hard to put the Wildcats in that category despite their 3-3 record and 0-3 in the conference. They've lost in heartbreak fashion to ranked opponents Oklahoma State and TCU before getting crushed at home by Oklahoma, 55-0.

But even then, Heard shows he knows how to put everything in perspective.

"When a team goes through a loss like that, they want to tear the head off of the next team they play," Heard said. "We've been through that. And we still have that anger, too, so it should be a good fight.

"Ever day I look at our 2-4 record, and it makes me mad."

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