Return home authors ‘perfect story' for QB Eddie Lee Marburger, UTRGV football

Redshirt senior and UTSA transfer poised to finish college football career back home in the Rio Grande Valley

Rio Grande Valley native Eddie Lee Marburger transferred last month to finish his college football career at the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley, which kicks off its inaugural NCAA Division I FCS season in August. / Photo courtesy of UTRGV Athletics

The possibility of one young man’s perfect ending and a program’s perfect beginning was realized on an 81-degree Christmas Day in south Texas.

Eddie Lee Marburger, an incoming redshirt senior quarterback who departed the University of Texas-San Antonio (UTSA) via the transfer portal on Dec. 7, sat in his room, mulling the biggest decision to date of his young life during his quiet prayer time.

In choosing where he would finish his college football career, Marburger relied upon his parents, Rene and Rachelle Torres, and prayer. A lot of prayer. But not even Rene or Rachelle knew what Marburger was thinking.

Marburger did not even really know. But he had an inkling.

“You just know when God wants you to be somewhere,” Marburger said. “He gives you a peace in your mind and your heart.”

So, the Rio Grande Valley native who was born in Edinburg, grew up in McAllen and starred at Sharyland Pioneer High in Mission texted Travis Bush—head coach of the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV), which kicks off its inaugural NCAA Division I FCS season in August—with a happy holiday greeting.

Marburger was coming home.

“There’s something about playing in front of my family and friends,” Marburger said. “This is home for me. And it just feels like the Valley wants football. They’re hungry for it. It’s going to be really cool to be around a bunch of people who are so ready for this to happen. I’m really blessed God’s given me this opportunity.”

“OK, let’s go!” Bush texted back. “Let’s get to work.”

Home ✌🏻 pic.twitter.com/MrXUKrJmXX

— Eddie Lee Marburger (@LeeMarburger) January 6, 2025

“It’s the perfect story,” Bush said. “Maybe the perfect ending for him and the perfect beginning for us. You’d love to roll out there the first game in history and your starting quarterback is from the Valley, just a huge representation of this region.

“For him to come home and play his final season here … it’s the development of a happy ending, and happy beginning on our end.”

Marburger, 6-foot-1 and 215 pounds, was a three-star prospect coming out of Pioneer, located about seven miles from the UTRGV campus. He is the all-time leader in passing touchdowns (103) in the Rio Grande Valley, a region of about 4,300 square miles located at the tip of south Texas.

Marburger compiled 8,966 passing yards, 2,381 rushing yards and 147 total touchdowns during an exceptional high school career. His 58 touchdown passes in 2019 are a single-season RGV record.

“There’s a lot of excitement,” Bush said. “There are a lot of fans down here who watched him in high school who weren’t even from Sharyland. There are people who are following him down here who followed him at UTSA.”

Bush has a friend who bought a suite at UTSA games just to watch Marburger, who was a backup all four years.

“He got rid of it this year since Eddie’s not there anymore,” Bush said. “The Valley rallies and represents for its own. Everyone’s excited to see what he can do, and hopefully he can be that guy.”

Marburger, 22, appeared in 18 games for UTSA, with two starts. Playing behind Frank Harris and Josh Adkins, Marburger completed 65 of 120 passes for 777 yards and seven touchdowns to four interceptions.

“He has all the skills,” Bush said. “He can throw it down the field and stick it on a dime. He’s a tough runner who can get you out of jams. But it goes back to experience. At quarterback, there’s no substitute for it. Having played in college games, whether he’s rolled in or started, he’s been in the atmosphere and understands so many things in the day-to-day lives of these guys.”

Marburger understands winning.

During his time at UTSA, the Roadrunners went 39-15 and won two FBS conference championships in 2021 and 2022 behind head coach Jeff Traylor’s bedrocks of integrity, passion, mental and physical toughness, selflessness, perfect effort and never taking a play off.

Over that span, UTSA evolved from a relative no-name to one of the more respected and admired college programs in Texas.

“I know how a culture is supposed to look,” Marburger said. “That’s really important. You want to have a team that has something to believe in.”

For his second recruiting class in the 2025 cycle, Bush sought upperclassmen, specifically seniors. Marburger will have to compete for the starting quarterback role, but he is different from any quarterback currently on campus because he has played meaningful college football snaps.

“What we missed this fall was the guys that have played in college games and had those battles at this level,” Bush said. “Having him come in and help mold this young class into a college football team is going to be huge.”

What impressed Bush most when he met Marburger last month was his knowledge of the offense. It’s a scheme similar to UTSA’s, with slight difference in terminology.

“Our minds think alike,” Bush said of Marburger. “He’s a veteran we can build off of. He gives us a larger downfield passing menu because he can throw it so far, so now that changes some things you can do with the three-level vertical game that you see in the NFL.

“You can do a lot of things when you tailor-fit it around that guy.”

Bush desires an offense that is multiple with personnel, with constant shifts and motions, and uptempo to push the ball downfield to create explosive plays.

“Ideally, something we would want to look like is the University of Texas and Ohio State,” Bush said.

Bush is demanding of his quarterbacks. A lot will be on Marburger’s plate. However, there will be significant payoff if all goes as all expect.

“Once they grasp it and are truly in control on the field, it’s like playing a video game,” Bush said. “The freedom to get us in the right play, take what they want and start to see the matchups we want.”

UTRGV’s first spring practice is March 10. When Marburger, expectedly, takes the field at Vackar Stadium in Edinburg for UTRGV’s debut against Sul Ross State on Aug. 30, he will return home a better player, a wiser young man.

The same arm-of-awe and blonde hair and blue eyes, sure. But no longer a kid. The man, Bush and UTRGV hope.

“One thing Coach Traylor told me is that pressure is a privilege,” Marburger said. “Not many people are in this situation, and it’s a privilege to be in a situation like this.”

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