Texas defensive coordinator Vance Bedford has been around college football for nearly 30 years and he's faced a number of eventual NFL quarterbacks along the way.
He'll be facing another this week when the Longhorns take on UCLA at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas on Saturday. Bedford brought up an interesting comparison Wednesday for Bruins quarterback Brett Hundley, linking the redshirt junior to a player he really had not been compared to before.
"He reminds me a lot of Cam Newton of the Carolina Panthers," Beford said, according to Horns247. "Big, strong, athletic. I must admit, he has one of the best arms I've seen. I had a chance to go against (Matt) Stafford when he was at Georgia, (Ryan) Mallett at Arkansas -- this kid has that type of arm. The entire field is wide open. He can be on one hash and throw the out-cut, and I tell you what, it's like a bazooka coming out of there. He's a special talent."
Bedford might be one of the first to compare Hundley to Newton, but he's not alone in suggesting that he's a special talent. UCLA head coach Jim Mora, who has 24 seasons of NFL coaching experience, has said, not surprisingly, that he thinks Hundley is a first-round pick, a thought echoed by many even with the team's shaky start to the 2014 season.
Hundley checks in at 6-foot-3, 226 pounds, so he's a tad smaller than Newton's 6-5, 245-pound frame. Still, his mobility and strong arm make it easy to understand why the Longhorns coordinator thinks so highly of him.
"Watching video of him and I'm like, 'Man,'" Bedford said, per the report. "He can throw the ball anywhere ... he has an NFL arm."
NFL Media analyst Charles Davis notes that while the Bruins are 2-0 this season, they've struggled in both games. However, that's not all on Hundley, who Davis notes is making big plays when UCLA needs them and is completing passes at a 69 percent clip.
The Heisman Trophy candidate has a big test in front of him against Texas on Saturday, despite the Longhorns' struggles last week in a loss to BYU. Hundley's offensive line has been an issue this season and he'll face a tough test against defensive linemen like Cedric Reed and Malcom Brown.
Hundley will need a big game to live up to the lofty comparison Bedford made on Wednesday.
You can follow Bryan Fischer on Twitter at @BryanDFischer.
