Let the records hit the floor: Case Keenum gets a sixth year at Houston

Just when Timmy Chang and Graham Harrell thought their career passing marks for yards and touchdowns were safe, the NCAA effectively declares open season on both: Houston quarterback Case Keenum is eligible to return for a sixth year this fall, after sitting out the Cougars' final nine games in 2010 with a torn ACL. That's a surprise, considering Keenum's appeal had been considered something of a long shot.

NCAA rules allow for a fifth year (aka a redshirt) as long as it's spent on the bench, and Keenum had already burned his redshirt season as a true freshman, sitting behind starter Kevin Kolb in 2006. He subsequently started or played significantly in 43 consecutive games over the next four years, until being knocked out of the Cougars' loss at UCLA on Sept. 18, apparently ending his amateur career. But UH was able to sell the NCAA on a collarbone injury that purportedly sidelined Keenum in '06 – a season in which he was already sidelined by his status on the depth chart – and voila, a medical hardship is born.

Houston may be the quintessential "system offense," designed to succeed by giving smart, accurate guys who may not be future draft picks a chance for big numbers by relying on a flood of quick, manageable throws and keeping the pedal pressed to the floor at all times. But as 2010 proved, it's not like Keenum is some random cog. Off back-to-back 5,000-yard seasons at the head of the nation's No. 1 offense in 2008 and 2009, he came into his senior year a virtual lock to smash the Division I records for career passing yards and touchdowns, maybe with a little Heisman and/or BCS chatter, for good measure.

His presence was a key reason Houston was a runaway favorite to win Conference USA, and as it turned out, his absence over the second half of the year may have been the key reason it descended to its first losing since 2004 instead. True freshman David Piland still averaged 330 yards per game with 24 touchdowns in eight starts, but also served up 11 interceptions in the Cougars' four-game losing streak to close the season. With Keenum in tow, Houston could well be back at the top of the division projections for 2011.

At any rate, if he stays healthy, Chang's and Harrell's records will be Keenum's with an additional 3,486 yards and 27 touchdowns, both far below his season totals in both 2008 and 2009. When that kind of pace qualifies as "mediocre" by your usual standards, it's been a pretty great career already. 

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Matt Hinton is on Twitter: Follow him @DrSaturday.

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