Big 12 roundup: Texas Longhorns quarterback David Ash retires from football

It’s been a rough calendar year for Texas quarterback David Ash, but it’s finally come to a conclusion that we all expected.

Ash informed head coach Charlie Strong on Wednesday that he will no longer try to get back on the field due to his concussion history. The Longhorn suffered another concussion during the season opener against North Texas and was ruled out for both games against BYU and UCLA, which resulted in losses with the backup under center, Tyrone Swoopes. Texas is currently 1-2 on the year.

An ending like this is hard for any football player that loves the game, but it won’t mark the end of Ash and Texas. The quarterback will still be with the team this season and will help out on the sideline. Instead of sulking, t’s a great move of leadership on the quarterback that if he can’t be on the field to lead his team, he will still do what he can.

Good luck to David Ash and his future.

Other Big 12 stories

— There are 58 current or former walk-ons on the 2014 Kansas State football squad. Dennis Dodd of CBS Sports has a great read on Bill Snyder’s unconventional wisdom and spotlights Ryan Mueller.

— Here’s a feature on the wide receiver that most Iowa State fans just learned last week — Brett Medders. From being academically ineligible and getting a tough talk from Paul Rhoads to living the dream of helping defeat the Iowa Hawkeyes last Saturday and letting out tears of joy. Congratulations, Medders!

— ESPN’s Big 12 blog cooked up some stats on Wednesday. Here are some highlights: TCU has the top-ranked efficiency defense in the country, Kansas is only better than an FBS team that has an offense which is designed not to pass the ball since Charlie Weis has been the head coach, and Iowa State has pulled off five double-digit underdog victories, and 14 out of 28 underdog victories overall under Paul Rhoads.

And some people had Rhoads on the hot seat….