No more overlooking Jimmy Garoppolo with 49ers on brink of Super Bowl

SANTA CLARA, Calif. - It took more than three years, a trade to the opposite coast and a quarterback switch for him to finally become an NFL starter.

Things happened a little faster in college for Jimmy Garoppolo.

"It was a completely open competition - for about five passes," Dino Babers said. "Then the competition was closed."

Babers had just taken over at Eastern Illinois, his first head coaching job. It was the spring of 2012 and Garoppolo was the team's returning starter entering his junior year.

But the