Baylor’s Rhule high on Brewer

About 100 miles north of Royal-Memorial Stadium, there’s a junior quarterback who once occupied the same rarefied air as Texas’ Sam Ehlinger.

Baylor junior Charlie Brewer was an unstoppable force during his time at Austin Lake Travis. As a senior, he led Lake Travis to a Class 6A state championship and 15-1 record while completing a national high school-record 77.2 percent of his passes for 3,908 yards and 54 touchdowns.

Ehlinger wasn’t so shabby, either. He led Austin Westlake to the Class 6A Division I championship game as a junior and accounted for 71 touchdowns before a battling through injuryplagued senior season.

Since they entered college, Ehlinger has turned himself into the face of Texas football and a legitimate Heisman candidate. But Brewer hasn’t been a slouch, either.

Bears coach Matt Rhule had plenty of praise to dole out for his quarterback Tuesday during Big 12 media days at AT&T Stadium.

“I thought at the end of last year, Charlie really settled into playing quarterback and not feeling like he had to do everything himself,” Rhule said.

Brewer started all 13 games last season and completed 61.5 percent of his passes for 3,019 yards with 19 touchdowns and nine interceptions. He also rushed for 375 yards and seven scores.

“I think Charlie is a natural quarterback,” Rhule said. “The game comes easy to him.. What I'm excited about is his commitment to learning the game at a higher level, understanding the run checks, the pass checks, the protections, making himself a pro quarterback as a junior … I've seen great work from him, and that to me tells me he's ready to go be a great player this year.”