Matthew Rutledge Schaub (born June 25, 1981 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania) is the starting quarterback for the Houston Texans. He was drafted by the Atlanta Falcons in the third round of the 2004 NFL Draft. He played college football at Virginia.
High school career
Schaub attended West Chester East High School in West Chester, Pennsylvania, and was a letterman in football, basketball, and baseball. In football, he finished his career with 3,990 passing yards and 35 touchdowns. As a senior, he was a team captain, named the team’s Most Valuable Offensive Back, garnered first team All-Chesmont League honors, first team All-Area honors, first team all-County honors, and USA Today Honorable Mention All-State honors. In baseball, he was named the Chesmont League Sophomore of the Year as a sophomore, and won second team All-Area honors as a junior.
College career
Matt Schaub finished his college career with at least 22 school records. He played in a record 40 games at the quarterback position and finished his career as one of the most accurate passers in Atlantic Coast Conference history (.670 career completion percentage). His Virginia statistics included school career records for yards passing (7502), touchdown passes (56), completions (716), attempts (1069), completion percentage (.670), 300-yard games (8), and 200-yard games (20).[1]
Schaub enrolled at Virginia in the fall of 1999 and redshirted his true freshman season. In 2000, starter Dan Ellis missed some time due to injury, but fellow redshirt freshman Bryson Spinner received the bulk of playing time in relief. After the 2000 season, coach George Welsh retired and was replaced by Al Groh. Schaub was the starter for the first game of the 2001 season at Wisconsin. Over the 2001 season, Schaub and Spinner split quarterbacking duties nearly evenly. The two alternated in some games, while in others either Schaub or Spinner received nearly all the snaps. The two quarterback system worked relatively well with both effectively passing the ball to receiver Billy McMullen, the team’s leading offensive threat.
Spinner transferred to the University of Richmond for the 2002 season, seemingly making Schaub the unquestioned starter. However, Schaub was briefly replaced by redshirt freshman Marques Hagans in the first game of the 2002 season against Colorado State University. Hagans was named the starter for the next game, against Florida State University, but was replaced by Schaub who went onto his breakout season. Schaub was the 2002 ACC Player of the Year, 2002 ACC Offensive Player of the Year and first-team All-State Virginia Sports Information Directors Association (VaSID) as a senior. Publicized in the 2003 preseason as a Heisman candidate, Schaub suffered a shoulder injury in the first game of the season and did not return for several games; therefore his overall numbers declined in his senior season. He was the Most Valuable Player of the 2003 Continental Tire Bowl and was twice selected to the All-ACC Academic Football Team. His University of Virginia awards included the John Acree Memorial Trophy, given to the football player with the highest qualities of leadership and unselfish service, and the Ben Wilson Award as the team’s most outstanding offensive player.[1]
NFL career
Atlanta Falcons
In 2004, Matt Schaub saw playing time in six games with the Atlanta Falcons, including starting the NFL week sixteen contest against the New Orleans Saints.
In 2005, Schaub was named the Most Valuable Player in the American Bowl preseason game in Tokyo, Japan. In front of 45,203 fans at the Tokyo Dome, Schaub completed 11 of 13 passes for 117 yards and two touchdowns in a 27-21 comeback victory over the Indianapolis Colts. During the regular season he played in 5 games, starting one. His lone start came against the New England Patriots in week 5; Schaub threw for 298 yards and three touchdowns in the 31-28 loss.
Houston Texans
In March 2007, the Houston Texans acquired Schaub from the Falcons for second round picks in 2007 and 2008. As part of the deal, the teams also swapped first round picks in 2007, exchanging the Falcons’ 10th pick with the Texans’ 8th pick.[2] Schaub was introduced to his new team at a press conference on March 22, 2007, and the subsequent day, the Texans released David Carr, opening the door for Schaub to become their long-term starter.[3]
2007 Season
In each of the first two games of the 2007 season, Schaub threw for over 220 yards, a 71% completion percentage, and attained a quarterback rating of over 100; both games were victories for the Texans, winning 20-3 over the Kansas City Chiefs and 34-21 over the Carolina Panthers. The second victory marked the first 2–0 start in franchise history.[4]. In week four, he started against his former team, the Atlanta Falcons, in which he completed 28 of 40 attempts, with 317 yards, 1 touchdown, and no interceptions in what would be his second loss of the 2007 season.[5]
Though Schaub was plagued with injuries throughout the 2007 season, he and backup quarterback Sage Rosenfels improved on the team’s 2006 record of 6–10, bringing the Texans to their first .500 season with an 8–8 record which is also a first in the team’s short history.
2008 Season
Schaub returned as the starter for the 2008 season. He played poorly in the first two games, losses to the Pittsburgh Steelers and Tennessee Titans but then had a great game against the Jacksonville Jaguars despite another loss. He sat out the week 5 loss to the Indianapolis Colts. In week 6, Schaub set the Texans franchise record for passing yards with 379 in a comeback win against the Miami Dolphins in which Schaub scored the winning TD on a QB draw with 3 seconds left. Schaub helped teammate wide receiver Andre Johnson lead the league in both receptions and receiving yards through week 8 of the season, having 56 catches for 772 yards. The new quarterback-receiver tandem had their best day together through midseason during the week 8 matchup against the Cincinnati Bengals where Schaub threw for 280 yards, completing over 85% of his passes (24 of 28), 10 of those going to Johnson for 143 yards in the 35-6 rout. Schaub’s season was broken up however with a knee injury against the Minnesota Vikings, which expected to keep him out for around 4 weeks, making Sage Rosenfels the new starter.
Against the Green Bay Packers, Schaub completed 28 of 42 pass attempts for 414 yards and 2 touchdowns, also leading the Texans down the field to set up a Kris Brown game winning field goal. He played well down the stretch and the team finished 8-8 despite starting 0-4.
2009 Season
During the 2009 NFL season, Schaub led the Texans to a 9-7 record and missed the playoffs. He led the league in passing yards (4770), completions (396), yards per game (298) and passing attempts (583), while finishing fifth in touchdowns (29) compiling a quarterback rating of 98.6. Matt Schaub had a great year and is considered a break out year for the Quarterback. He was selected to his first Pro Bowl as an injury replacement to Patriots quarterback Tom Brady, winning MVP honors.[
