Zach Calzada (born November 8, 2000) is an American football quarterback who currently plays for the Incarnate Word Cardinals. He played formerly for the Texas A&M Aggies and the Auburn Tigers. Calzada attended and played high school football at Lanier High School in Sugar Hill, Georgia and began his college career at Texas A&M before transferring to Auburn in 2022.
| Incarnate Word Cardinals – No. 10 | |
|---|---|
| Position | Quarterback |
| Class | Graduate |
| Personal information | |
| Born: | November 8, 2000 Sugar Hill, Georgia, U.S. |
| Height | 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) |
| Weight | 200 lb (91 kg) |
| Career history | |
| College |
|
| High school | Lanier (Sugar Hill, Georgia) |
| Career highlights and awards | |
| |
Early life
editCalzada grew up in Sugar Hill, Georgia and attended Lanier High School.[1][2] He missed a large portion of his senior season after suffering a cracked rib and a punctured lung in the third game of the year. Calzada eventually returned to play and finished the season with 122 completions on 240 pass attempts for 14 touchdowns and was named an Under Armour All-American as Lanier reached the state semifinals.[3] He finished his high school career with 3,429 yards and 29 touchdowns on 238 of 467 passing.[4] Calzada was rated a three-star recruit and committed to play college football at Texas A&M over offers from North Carolina State, North Carolina, and Georgia.[5]
College career
editTexas A&M
editAs a freshman, Calzada completed 12 of 24 pass attempts for 133 yards with two touchdowns and one interception.[6] Calzada did not see any playing time during the 2020 season.[7]
Calzada competed for the starting quarterback spot going into the 2021 season, but Haynes King was ultimately chosen.[8] Calzada was named the Aggies starter following an injury to King in the second game of the season.[9] He completed 21 of 31 passes for 285 yards with three touchdowns and one interception in a 41–38 upset victory over top-ranked Alabama.[10] Following the game, Calzada was named the Southeastern Conference Offensive Player of the Week, the Davey O'Brien Award Player of the Week, and the Maxwell Award Player of the Week.[11] Calzada finished the season with 2,185 passing yards, 17 touchdowns, and 9 interceptions in ten starts.[12]
On December 13, 2021, Calzada announced he would be transferring from Texas A&M, via social media.[13]
Auburn
editOn January 6, 2022, Calzada announced he would transfer to Auburn University.[14] On December 5, 2022, Calzada announced he would enter the transfer portal again.[15]
Incarnate Word
editOn January 11, 2023, Calzada announced he would transfer to The University of the Incarnate Word, an FCS school located in San Antonio, Texas.[16] He was named the Cardinals' starting quarterback entering his first season with the team.[17]
Statistics
edit| Season | Team | Games | Record | Passing | Rushing | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GP | GS | Cmp | Att | Pct | Yards | TD | Int | Rtg | Att | Yds | Avg | TD | |||
| Texas A&M Aggies | |||||||||||||||
| 2019 | Texas A&M | 3 | 0 | 0–0 | 12 | 24 | 50.0 | 133 | 2 | 1 | 115.7 | 5 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 |
| 2020 | Texas A&M | Did not play | |||||||||||||
| 2021 | Texas A&M | 12 | 10 | 6–4 | 184 | 328 | 56.3 | 2,185 | 17 | 9 | 123.7 | 35 | −9 | −0.3 | 1 |
| Auburn Tigers | |||||||||||||||
| 2022 | Auburn | Did not play | |||||||||||||
| Incarnate Word Cardinals | |||||||||||||||
| 2023 | Incarnate Word | 8 | 8 | 6–2 | 188 | 283 | 66.4 | 2,598 | 19 | 9 | 159.3 | 34 | 57 | 1.7 | 5 |
| 2024 | Incarnate Word | 11 | 11 | 9–2 | 258 | 396 | 65.2 | 2,971 | 30 | 7 | 149.6 | 62 | 175 | 2.8 | 3 |
| Career[18] | 34 | 29 | 21–8 | 642 | 1,031 | 62.3 | 7,887 | 68 | 26 | 143.3 | 136 | 223 | 1.6 | 9 | |
Personal life
editCalzada is a Cuban American.[19]
References
edit- ^ Zwermeman, Brent (November 21, 2019). "A&M was clear-cut choice for Georgian Zach Calzada". Houston Chronicle. Retrieved October 12, 2021.
- ^ "Lanier's Zach Calzada commits to Texas A&M football". Gwinnett Daily Post's GwinnettPrepSports.com. June 14, 2018. Archived from the original on October 4, 2022. Retrieved October 3, 2022.
- ^ Brown, Travis (August 20, 2021). "High school adversity primed Texas A&M quarterback for his first start Saturday". The Bryan-College Station Eagle. Retrieved October 12, 2021.
- ^ Young, RJ (August 27, 2021). "SEC PREVIEW: ALABAMA RELOADS, BUT GEORGIA COULD STEM THE TIDE". FoxSports.com. Retrieved October 13, 2021.
- ^ "Report: Status of longtime 2019 Texas A&M QB commit Zach Calzada uncertain ahead of early signing day". The Dallas Morning News. December 18, 2018. Retrieved October 13, 2021.
- ^ "Fisher waiting to name starting QB as Calzada, King make progress". The Bryan-College Station Eagle. September 17, 2021. Retrieved October 12, 2021.
- ^ "Despite limited experience, Texas A&M is confident in Zach Calzada taking over as starting quarterback". The Dallas Morning News. September 13, 2021. Retrieved October 13, 2021.
- ^ Zwerneman, Brent (August 25, 2021). "Haynes King beats out Zach Calzada to be Texas A&M's starting quarterback". San Antonio Express-News. Retrieved October 13, 2021.
- ^ Khan Jr., Sam (September 16, 2021). "What to expect from Texas A&M QB Zach Calzada? Will Houston's recruiting improve in the Big 12? Ask the Texpert". The Athletic. Retrieved October 13, 2021.
- ^ Talty, John (October 12, 2021). "Stephen Garcia remembers 2010 Alabama upset, offers Zach Calzada advice". AL.com. Retrieved October 13, 2021.
- ^ "Lanier grad Zach Calzada earns Davey O'Brien national award, SEC honors after upset of Alabama". Gwinnett Daily Post. October 12, 2021. Retrieved October 13, 2021.
- ^ Toppmeyer, Blake; Adams, John (December 15, 2021). "Where should Bo Nix, Max Johnson, Zach Calzada transfer? Here are some SEC schools in need". The Tennessean. Retrieved January 20, 2022.
- ^ Jeyarajah, Shehan (December 13, 2021). "Texas A&M QB Zach Calzada enters transfer portal after starting 10 games, leading Alabama upset in 2021 season". CBS Sports. Retrieved January 20, 2022.
- ^ Scarborough, Alex (January 6, 2022). "Ex-Texas A&M QB Zach Calzada commits to Auburn out of college football transfer portal". ESPN. Retrieved January 6, 2022.
- ^ https://twitter.com/chris_hummer/status/1599833346171105285 [bare URL]
- ^ Flaherty, Kevin (January 11, 2023). "Texas A&M, Auburn ex Zach Calzada to transfer to Incarnate Word". 247 Sports. Retrieved January 11, 2023.
- ^ "Former Texas A&M quarterback chosen to lead UIW's potent offense". Dave Campbell's Texas Football. August 21, 2023. Retrieved September 4, 2023.
- ^ "Zach Calzada Stats". ESPN.com. Retrieved November 22, 2024.
- ^ Villa, Walter (October 26, 2021). "Columbus QB finds a Cuban-American role model at Texas A&M". Miami Herald. Retrieved January 20, 2022.