Carthage Quarterback Blake Bogenschutz Commits to UTSA

Not long after getting his first offer from a Division I FBS program, Blake Bogenschutz decided to go ahead and pull the trigger on his commitment.

Carthage's veteran quarterback in the 2014 class committed to Texas-San Antonio around 7 p.m. Friday after receiving an offer from the Roadrunners earlier in the afternoon.

Bogenschutz, who was born in San Antonio and moved to Carthage (where both of his parents are from) at age 3, performed at UTSA's satellite camp in Grand Prairie on Friday morning before receiving a call -- and an offer -- from the UTSA staff by Friday afternoon. He called UTSA head coach Larry Coker, who coached Miami to the 2001 national championship, Friday evening to commit.

Bogenschutz said UTSA offensive coordinator/quarterbacks coach Kevin Brown made a strong impression. Bogenschutz said he measured 6 feet tall at the Friday camp, but that didn't matter to Brown and the Roadrunner staff.

"He kept me after and had me throw with some good receivers. He said, 'We wanted to see you throw live,'" Bogenschutz said. "Their starter right now is 6-foot and they've got backups that are 6-3 and 6-4. He said, 'We don't care about height at all.' All these (other) coaches are recruiting height. (UTSA) just seemed like an open opportunity for me."

Bogenschutz said he loves the city of San Antonio and is a "die-hard" Spurs fan. He also said his commitment is strong.

"I know schools are still going to be after me regardless if I committed or not. The schools that really want me might offer, too, but I consider myself strong to UTSA," he said. "I'm not gonna completely shut (recruiting) off, but once football season starts, I'm gonna put it all behind me. It's gonna be all about getting that ring."

North Texas has consistently shown a lot of interest in Bogenschutz since January. Mean Green offensive coordinator Mike Canales has recruited Bogenschutz personally, while head coach Dan McCarney visited with him at a Mesquite satellite camp earlier this week. Texas State and Louisiana Tech are also among the schools that have shown interest.

UTSA, North Texas, and Louisiana Tech will be West Division competitors in the new Conference USA starting this fall. UTSA went 8-4 overall in 2012, which included a 3-3 record against Western Athletic Conference competition.

Division II program Arkansas Tech offered Bogenschutz after he performed well at Baylor's camp in Marshall on June 8.

Bogenschutz measured 6-foot-1 3/4, 175 pounds at the May 19 ETSN.fm Football Recruiting Combine at APEC training facility in Tyler, where he displayed his sound mechanics and passing ability during position-specific drills. He also ran a 4.64-second 40-yard dash (third among 12 quarterbacks), put up 11 bench reps at 185 pounds (second among QBs), and ran a 4.12-second pro agility time, which was best among quarterbacks.

The 2013 season will be Bogenschutz' third as Carthage's starting quarterback in the Bulldogs' balanced pro-style offense.

He needs 1,458 passing yards to tie Anthony Morgan's school career record of 7,024.  He's also 22 touchdown passes away from tying Morgan's record of 84. During the first two seasons with Bogenschutz at quarterback, Carthage has gone 20-7 with a Class 3A Division II Region II semifinal appearance (2011) and a Class 3A Division I state semifinal appearance (2012).

As a junior, Bogenschutz threw for 2,870 yards, 38 touchdowns, and nine interceptions while leading the Bulldogs to an 11-3 record. His passing yardage and touchdown passes were each the third-most in single-season school history.

Bogenschutz is 1 of 10 returning offensive starters for Carthage in 2013. He joins classmates Tevin Pipkin (3,300-plus rushing yards in two seasons), Terian "Tee" Goree (66 catches, 1,271 yards, 17 TDs in 2012), O'keeron Rutherford (43 catches, 599 yards, 8 TDs in 2012), plus offensive linemen Adrian Goodacre (6-4, 310), Griffin Bankhead (6-3, 301), Cade Clinton (6-3, 228), Mario McCain (6-0, 220), and Dillon Husar (6-1, 240) to give head coach Scott Surratt a veteran offense entering this fall.

Carthage averaged 42.8 points per game last season.

Blake Bogenschutz' Sophomore + Junior Stats

• 2011: 2,696 passing yards, 24 TDs, 10 INTs
• 2012: 2,870 passing yards, 38 TDs, 9 INTs
• Totals: 5,566 passing yards, 62 TDs, 19 INTs

2014 East Texas Football Players With Division I FBS Offers

• Terry Ausborne, S, John Tyler, 5-10, 175 -- offer from SMU (1)
• Blake Bogenschutz, QB, Carthage, 6-1, 175 -- committed to UTSA (1)
• Jacob Bragg, OL, Nacogdoches, 6-4, 310 -- offer from Kansas, Louisiana Tech, Oregon State, ULM (4)
• K.D. Cannon, WR, Mount Pleasant, 6-0, 160 — offers from Arizona, Baylor, Clemson, Florida State, Houston, Miami, Nebraska, Notre Dame, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Ole Miss, Purdue, SMU, TCU, Texas, Texas A&M, Texas Tech, Utah, Vanderbilt, Virginia, West Virginia (21)
• Caleb Chumley, QB/ATH, Pine Tree, 6-5, 220 -- offers from Houston, Kansas, Louisiana Tech, Memphis, North Texas, Oregon State, Texas State (7)
• Joseph Clark, RB/S, Chapel Hill, 5-9, 175 -- offers from Air Force, Texas State (2)
• Kade Clayton, ATH, Tyler Grace, 6-0, 180 — offer from SMU, Texas State (2)
• Terrell Cuney, C, Jasper, 6-3, 260 — committed to Texas; additional offers from TCU, Texas Tech (3)
• Adrian Goodacre, OL, Carthage, 6-4, 310 -- offer from ULL (1)
• Tee Goree, WR, Carthage, 6-2, 168 -- offer from Louisiana Tech, Memphis, ULL, ULM (4)
• Davion Hall, ATH, Liberty-Eylau, 6-2, 191 — committed to Baylor; additional offers from Alabama, Arkansas, LSU, SMU, Stanford, Texas, Texas A&M, Texas Tech (9)
• Zaycoven Henderson, DT, Longview, 6-1, 287 — committed to TCU; additional offers from Baylor, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Ole Miss, SMU, Texas Tech (7)
• Willy Ivery, ATH, Sulphur Springs, 5-8, 180 -- offers from Colorado State, New Mexico, North Texas, Texas State, Toledo (5)
• Jamal Jeffery, WR, Lufkin, 5-9, 165 — committed to Texas A&M (1)
• Chris Jefferson, ATH, Athens, 6-2, 200 -- committed to SMU (1)
• Ben Luckett, RB, Palestine, 6-0, 195 -- offer from ULM (1)
• Dorian Leonard, WR, Longview, 6-4, 200 — committed to Texas; offers from Florida State, Oklahoma, Oregon State, San Diego State, Texas Tech (6)
• Patrick Mahomes, QB, Whitehouse, 6-3, 203 — committed to Texas Tech; additional offers from Houston, North Texas, Rice (4); also has Arizona, Arkansas, Houston baseball offers
• Jarrell Owens, LB/DE, Palestine, 6-3, 238 -- offer from TCU, Texas State, Texas Tech, ULM (4)
• Greg Roberts, DE, Nacogdoches, 6-5, 210 -- offer from Baylor (1)
• Anthony Rhone, LB, Texas High, 6-0, 205 -- offer from SMU (1)
• Okeeron Rutherford, WR, Carthage, 6-5, 181 -- offer from ULM (1)
• Anthony Sanders, ATH, Athens, 5-11, 185 -- offer from ULM (1)
• Kevin Shorter, RB/S, Newton, 6-0, 190 — offers from Arkansas, Army, Baylor, Clemson, Florida State, Georgia Tech, Houston, Kansas, LSU, Maryland, Mississippi State, Nebraska, Ohio State, Oklahoma, San Diego State, Tennessee, Texas A&M, Texas Tech, UCLA, ULM, Utah (22)
• Brian Thlang, OL, Palestine, 6-2, 290 -- committed ULM (1)
• Justin Twine, ATH, Hemphill, 5-10, 195 — committed to TCU for baseball; additional football offer from Baylor (1)
• Josh Walker, RB/LB, Gilmer, 6-1, 220 — committed to Texas A&M; additional offers from Oklahoma, Texas, Texas Tech (4)
• D.J. Williams, DT, Lufkin, 6-4, 293 -- offers from Miami, Missouri, North Texas, Oklahoma (4)
• Jeffery Wilson, RB, Elkhart, 6-0, 190 -- offers from New Mexico State, North Texas, ULM (3)