Once overlooked, Daniel is one of the Big 12's best quarterbacks

NORMAN — Out of high school, quarterback Chase Daniel could do it all.

He could throw with the velocity of a baseball pitcher and run like a track star.

But none of the big schools in his home state of Texas offered Daniel a football scholarship.

At 5-foot-11, he was too short to play quarterback.

"When it comes to quarterbacks, everyone thinks it's a beauty contest,” said North Texas coach Todd Dodge, who was Daniel's high school coach at Southlake Carroll. "If people would've had a crystal ball back then, they would've thought twice about passing on him just because he wasn't the prototypical size.”

Now at Missouri, Daniel has the undefeated Tigers at No. 11 in the polls, their highest ranking since 1981.

Daniel will arrive in Norman this weekend coming off his best game as a Tiger, completing 33 of 47 passes for a career-best 401 yards and accounting for four touchdowns as the Tigers spanked Nebraska 41-6 in front of their first sellout crowd in four years.

"He's just really good. He's accurate. Obviously he's very comfortable in the system,” OU coach Bob Stoops said. "You've got to do a good job of trying to bother him or get pressure, change up what you're doing.”

Daniel has tossed for 1,712 yards and 15 touchdowns, one year after shattering the school's single-season passing record by throwing for 3,527 yards as a sophomore.

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