AUSTIN, Texas — It's the dream that wasn't, the one that came and went quicker than a shooting star through the atmosphere.
He'll downplay it now, but Chase Daniel thought about the Texas Longhorns when he was growing up, throwing the football to himself in the back yard, pretending he was tossing the game-winning touchdown to win the national championship.
He knew he was wearing burnt orange.
When he was racking up accolades at Southlake Carroll High School and winning back-to-back Class 5A state championships, he was waiting for the Longhorns to call.
But when they did call, they had bad news.
They were going after Louisiana product Ryan Perrilloux. They were going after Colt McCoy. And they were only going after two quarterbacks in 2005. Daniel, who stands just under 6 feet tall, wasn't one of those guys.
"He never said much. We'd ask him and he'd say, `It just wasn't meant to be,'" Daniel's mother, Vickie Daniel, told the Columbia-Missourian this week. "He got over it pretty quick. We wanted it for him because that was his childhood dream.
"He grew up in Texas, and you're supposed to be a Longhorn. So he was disappointed, but he was OK."
The Longhorns did call later, after Perrilloux de-committed. But it was too late. Daniel already had committed to Missouri.
To the Longhorns, Daniel became one of the 300-plus high school prospects every year who has his heart broken by Texas.
He also became one of the many quarterbacks from the state who's leading a Top 25-ranked team, Missouri.
Georgia has Highland Park's Matthew Stafford. Ennis' Graham Harrell is at the helm of Texas Tech's offense, and Lake Travis' Todd Reesing is in charge of Kansas.
And don't forget about McCoy, from little Tuscola Jim Ned, heading up the No. 1-ranked Longhorns.
"It's amazing, when you think about it, how many great quarterbacks come from Texas. And we looked at all of them," Texas coach Mack Brown said. "We looked at Chase Daniel, but much to his credit, he kept his commitment to Missouri. We looked at the guy at Georgia. We looked at Harrell at Tech and Reesing at Kansas."
So, with so many good quarterbacks coming out of Texas every year, how did the Longhorns end up with McCoy, backup John Chiles and third-stringer Sherrod Harris as their signal callers?
"That kind of all started with Ryan Perrilloux," Texas recruiting coordinator Bobby Kennedy said. "We went after both him and Colt McCoy really early for the 2005 class."
Time and again the past few years, the Longhorns have been burned by out-of-state quarterback prospects, while in-state prospects have succeeded, both in Austin (McCoy) and elsewhere.
"One of the things you have to remember is quarterback is a different position," Kennedy said. "If Daniel had come here, he probably would have transferred. It's really hard to get a quarterback to commit to you if they're going to sit behind a guy for three years. Both Chase and Colt are Heisman candidates. You think either one would have spent his career on the bench?"
Texas started becoming a quarterback-rich state 12 years ago when summer 7-on-7 passing leagues were introduced by Baytown Lee coach Dick Olin.
So far, 23 Division I teams this season have started a quarterback from Texas.
That's by far the most of any state.
"Things have changed," said Olin, who travels to other states to talk about the success of Texas' 7-on-7 leagues. "This has gone from a state that produces tons of running backs to a state that produces a ton of quarterbacks. There are dozens of them every year."
Which is why almost every week the Longhorns face a QB who feels scorned.
"We can't offer all of them," Brown said.
This week, they face one they didn't offer. And no quarterback who fled the state has received as much hype as Daniel.
Perhaps it's because he led the Tigers to the No. 1 ranking and a spot in the Big 12 Championship game last year. Perhaps it's because he's a Heisman contender this year.
Perhaps it's just the media, making up a story.
"Colt is at the place he should be, and I'm definitely at the place I should be too," Daniel said.
Either way, Daniel comes into Austin this weekend with something to prove.
He says it's just like any other weekend.
"During my life, no matter what sport I played, or how tall I was or the strength of my arm, I always had a chip on my shoulder," Daniel said. "That's how I've always been. You can't measure me by the size of my body. Measure me by the size of my heart."
Alan Trubow writes for the Austin American-Statesman. E-mail: atrubow AT statesman.com