Casey Dick

Casey Dick
Dick with the Razorbacks in 2006.
College	Arkansas
Conference	SEC
Sport	Football
Position	QB
Jersey #	11
Class	Senior
Major	Political science
Career	2005–2008
Height	6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)
Weight	216 lb (98 kg)
Nationality	USA
Born	(1986-06-27) June 27, 1986 Lucas, TX
High school	Allen HS, Allen, Texas
Bowl games
2007 Capital One Bowl 2008 Cotton Bowl Classic
Tournaments

Casey Dick (born June 27, 1986) is a former college football quarterback for the University. Currently coaches at Bentonville West High School.

High school career

Dick played for Allen High School in Allen, Texas. As a senior in 2004, he threw for 1,942 yards and 14 touchdowns, while adding 401 yards and 8 touchdowns rushing.

College career

Dick committed to the University of Arkansas during the 2005 recruiting season. He was a 3-star rated prospect by Rivals.com recruiting analysts, heading a small group of 2005 quality QBs in Texas, alongside Chase Daniel and Colt McCoy.^[1]

Freshman season

Dick practiced as the 3rd team quarterback/scout team quarterback for the majority of the 2005 season, anticipating being redshirted for the season. His first playing time came during that same season in which he started off the bench over then-starter Robert Johnson for the game against South Carolina. Dick played well against South Carolina, Ole Miss, and 3rd ranked LSU and finished the season as the starting quarterback for the Razorbacks. Disputes continue today that if Casey Dick had started throughout the year, Arkansas may have gone to a bowl game.

Sophomore season

During summer practices, Dick sustained an injury, prompting coaches to again start Johnson for the Southern California game. His injury healed, and he played a few games in the 2006 season, playing extensively in the final four when Mitch Mustain was benched after leading Arkansas on an 8-0 streak. Dick led Arkansas to a loss against the eventual NCAA National Championship University of Florida Gators in the 2006 SEC Championship Game.

Dick started in Arkansas' Capital One Bowl loss against Wisconsin, trading time with Mitch Mustain.

Junior season

The 2007-2008 football season was Dick's junior season. Pursuant to Mitch Mustain's transfer to USC, he had no "real" competition for the quarterback position. Some fans were critical of Dick after throwing key interceptions in conference losses against Kentucky (2), Auburn (1), and Tennessee (2), but he held his starting job despite a brief run from backup Nathan Emert. On November 17 in a home game against Mississippi State, he threw a career high 4 touchdown passes and completed 14 of 17 attempts for 199 yards, earning him his first SEC Player of the Week honors. On Friday, November 23, Dick led Arkansas to a 50-48 win over top ranked LSU, in which he made key passes to Peyton Hillis on a fourth-and-10 in the second overtime to extend the game and again for a 12-yard touchdown to tie.

At the close of the year, Casey Dick held third place in Arkansas school history for touchdown passes with 35 behind Matt Jones with 53 and Clint Stoerner with 57. He finished the year with a QB rating of 129.67, good enough for fourth in the SEC.

Senior season

Dick entered his senior season under new head coach Bobby Petrino with the inside track on the starting job and started in the team's opener against Western Illinois. A limited amount of competition was expected from redshirt freshman Nathan Dick, Casey's brother, and incoming freshman Tyler Wilson, a Rivals.com four-star prospect. Michigan transfer Ryan Mallett was on campus, but his formal request to waive the mandatory redshirt year when transferring was denied by the NCAA. Dick won the starter's job due to being an experienced senior with 21 starts at Arkansas quarterback prior to the 2008.

Dick began the 2008 season with two consecutive 300-yard performances, the first of his career, and the first time in history that an Arkansas quarterback had thrown for 300 yards in back-to-back outings. After the first two games, Arkansas faced stronger competition, and Dick's output gradually suffered until he hit a statistical bottom of 94 passing yards against Kentucky in a narrow loss. Dick bounced back from his poor performance with a 284-yard, 2-touchdown game against Ole Miss, which he followed up with a 385-yard showing in a victory over 19th-ranked Tulsa, which included an early touchdown to take the lead. Dick's 385 yards were the second-highest total in school history, trailing Clint Stoerner's record of 387 against LSU in 1997 by two yards. For his performance, Dick was elected SEC Offensive Player of the Week.

In his final game, Dick came off the bench to replace his injured brother Nathan and threw two touchdowns, including a fourth-down throw to receiver London Crawford with 22 seconds remaining, and led Arkansas 31–30 over LSU. The play was reminiscent of the "Miracle on Markham", Matt Jones's game-winning TD throw to beat LSU in 2002, which was roughly the same distance in yardage and was to the same corner of the same end zone. Dick's touchdown, the last pass of his career, would go on to be voted by fans as a finalist for the Pontiac Gamechanging Performance, a title awarded to the most outstanding play of the year in college football. ESPN.com's Chris Low selected Dick's pass to Crawford as one of the top fifteen plays in the SEC for the 2008 season, and selected the Razorbacks' win over LSU as one of the ten best games in the SEC for that season.^[2][3]

Professional career

Dick was not selected in the 2009 NFL Draft, but attended a minicamp with the New York Jets, lasting until the final cut.^[4] Dick also attended Pro Day with his former Razorback teammates prior to the 2010 NFL Draft.^[4] He was eventually offered a tryout by the Miami Dolphins as a free agent on April 26, 2010 to throw at rookie camp.^[5][6]

References