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It is Valentine’s Day, a day to show the one you love how much she or he means to you. Of course, if you’re anything like me, it’s also a day where you take that last-minute trip to CVS or Walgreens to pick up a Valentine’s Day card before going to dinner.
I know that makes me a less-than-perfect husband. I truly love my wife but I definitely have blinders on when it comes to Valentine’s Day.
Still, I’m better than some of you scoundrels out there. Some of you are not only trying to find a gift or card for your wife at the last minute, but you’re probably also looking for last-minute treasures for your side piece as well.
Talk of infidelity on Valentine’s Day may seem a little sacrilegious, but it’s beginning to feel like there may be an affair brewing between Texas fans and UT’s backup quarterback.
In case you missed it this week,
@Ketchum started hearing some whispers about the progress that Arch Manning has made over the last couple of months and that he is finally starting to look like the bad mama jama that his recruiting rankings said he would be.
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I understand the love affair. Arch has the kind of ability that can lead to championships. He has a big arm. He seems cool under pressure. The other players all seem to love him. And he’s a Manning!
But before you go completely gaga over Manning just remember one thing …
“Quinn’s our starter,” Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian told reporters last week when asked about the quarterback competition between Manning and Quinn Ewers.
Ewers came to Texas with a similar recruiting ranking. He has a big arm. He seems cool under pressure. The other players all seem to love him. Oh, I almost forgot, he led Texas to the college football playoff!
And yet, if a picture is worth a thousand words then this says it all.
Aaron E. Martinez of the Austin American-Statesman
By any logical, reasonable standard, Ewers should have the Texas fan base eating out of the palm of his hand. Did I mention he just led Texas to a 12-2 season with a berth in the playoffs? Along the way, he threw for nearly 3,500 yards with 22 touchdowns and only six interceptions.
And yet … many fans still seem to be kind of lukewarm about their QB1.
I kept thinking about Ewers while watching Brock Purdy in the Super Bowl on Sunday.
Purdy has developed a reputation as a “game manager.” Being a game manager may be a pejorative to some, but it doesn’t seem to bother Purdy.
“I think it's more of a compliment to a quarterback to say that you can go in and run the system well,” Purdy told CBS ahead of the game. “I feel like I have the respect of the guys in the locker room and that's all it matters.”
Ewers, at times during his sophomore season, felt more like a game manager as well. Like Purdy, Ewers can run the system well and he has the respect of the locker room. Also like Purdy, Ewers felt at times last season like he was more of a “game manager.”
When Ewers took care of the ball and played within himself, the Horns won. When he didn’t (three turnovers against OU), then they lost.
Perhaps no play summed up “game manager” more than the checkdown on first down in the red zone at the end of the Sugar Bowl.
(1:04:12 into the video)
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I realize some of you won’t like me comparing Ewers and Purdy, especially tabbing both of them as “game managers,” but the good news is that like Purdy, last year was only Ewers’ second season and also like Purdy, he should get better with more experience.
The progress we saw from Ewers’ freshman season to his sophomore season was nothing short of phenomenal. He spent last offseason working on his body and learning the playbook inside and out. And it showed.
“I think pretty easy to see from the naked eye the development that Quinn made from year one to year two,” Sarkisian said. “I don't think that Quinn is a finished product yet. But I think there is plenty of room for growth and improvement in development and his game going into year three.”
Ewers has a chance this offseason to take another step forward both in command of the offense and as a leader of the team as well.
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“We’re going to need his leadership,” Sarkisian said. “We've got some new faces on the offensive side of the ball, especially at the skill positions, where his leadership is going to be very important.”
But having already led his team to the playoffs, and now being an upperclassman, Ewers will have to carry the extra weight of expectations.
“Assuming the real face of Longhorn football for a year,” Sarkisian said. “Him kind of taking those reins and understanding and understand what that is, is going to be big.”
For Arch, this offseason is all about continuing the growth he started showing last year.
“I want to make sure that when he gets on the field that he plays great football,” Sarkisian said.
And of course, even Sark sees the kind of things that has the fan base falling in love with Arch.
“Arch has got an extremely bright future,” Sarkisian said. “We're very fortunate to have him on our roster. He's got great leadership skills, got a great skill set.”
Of course, the very next sentence out of Sark’s mouth after that was that Ewers is the starter.
Which is just a reminder that Sark is committed to Ewers and, as a fan, you should be too. After all, his success is your success. So maybe, on this Valentine’s Day, show some love for Ewers.
FIRST PITCH!
Baseball season is FINALLY here! The Texas Longhorns open up the 2024 season hosting San Diego beginning on Friday.
In all honesty, the Longhorns should win all eight games on the February schedule, meaning the real season doesn’t kick off until March 1, when Texas faces LSU in the Astros Foundation College Classic at Minute Maid Park.
My expectations for this season really fall in line with what
@ZachattheDisch has said, which is that I think this is an NCAA regional quality team, but you could get more if things start to break right.
So far, things have not broken right for the Horns with the season-ending injury to relief pitcher Will Mercer followed by the retirement of first baseman Luke Storm.
Now we get word that Tanner Witt’s recovery from injury still has not progressed to the point where he can be relied upon to be in the weekend starter rotation. Witt will be coming in as a reliever, hoping to hold teams until the closer gets the ball.
This isn’t the worst news possible. After all, the last thing you want to do is rush Witt before he’s ready. And clearly, considering his velocity and command are not yet back to his pre-injury status, he’s not ready to be a reliable starter.
Still, having Witt coming in from the bullpen may end up being a blessing in disguise for head coach David Pierce’s squad. Witt has a lot of experience and a bulldog-type mentality that can help fire up the team in the late innings of games.
TWEETS OF INTEREST
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Eleven Texas Longhorns will be in Indianapolis at the end of the month for the NFL Combine.
It is a chance for the Horns to show off in front of just about every NFL general manager, head coach, and scout. They will be poked, prodded, questioned and worked out as they try to prove they are worthy of being drafted.
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The more we move along in this draft process, the more obvious it becomes that the NFL draft gurus have all fallen in love with Texas defensive tackle Byron Murphy. Murphy has been steadily rising up the mock drafts to the point where he is a consistent middle of the first round guy.
However, some of the Horns that we all thought could be first-rounders appear to be falling.
It’s entirely possible T’Vondre Sweat, Xavier Worthy, Adonai Mitchell, or Ja’Tavion Sanders could still end up being a first-round pick, but it looks like most of them will have to wait for day two of the draft to hear their name called.
Of course, seeing four Longhorns go in the second round is not exactly a slap in the face. Still, it may provide a little extra fuel for each of these guys to show everyone they belonged in the first round all along.
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Speaking of Byron Murphy.
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Left field just continues to get better and better at the Disch.
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The Texas Longhorn softball team is off to an incredible start to their season going 5-0 last weekend and outscoring its opponents 64-5. That included a two-game sweep of the then number eight team in the country, UCLA (3-2 & 16-0).
The Horns are number three in the country and heading to a tournament in Florida where they will face the #2 team, Tennessee on Friday. They’ll also square off against #9 Stanford, #18 Kentucky and #22 Northwestern (and also unranked North Carolina).
How Texas fares in the Shriners Children’s Clearwater Invitational will be a good gauge of just how good this team can be.
Of course, the real test won’t come until April 5 when they take on OU for the first time. I realize that’s kind of blowing off the matchup against the number two team in the country on Friday, but let’s be real – that’s how far ahead of the field OU is in softball.
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The “Dunkings” commercial was the clear winner of this year’s Super Bowl commercial contest, and now you can see the full-length version for yourself.
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Oh, and if you were hoping to score one of those sweet track suits, you’re out of luck. They’re already sold out.
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Happy Valentine’s Day!
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