Dramatics aside, the quarterback call for Steve Sarkisian always needed to be the one he made.
Quinn Ewers.
Ironically for Hudson Card, the reasoning is exactly the same used a year ago when he won the battle vs. Casey Thompson.
A year ago when Sarkisian put his head on a pillow before he went to bed during the August camp, part of what he dreamed about was what his team would look like when it was no longer in a rebuild mode, but finally in a compete-for-a-title mode. In his mind, who was the player that would be playing quarterback when that time arrived?
Twelve months ago, the answer to that question was Card, which is why it made all of the sense in the world to give him the job. No matter the lumps, Card needed to go through the ups and downs that almost all young quarterbacks have to go through before they can turn the corner and become the veteran winners you hope they finally emerge into.
The problem a year ago is that Sarkisian clearly lost confidence in both Card and Thompson. When he put his head on a pillow in November, he was dreaming of some other quarterback that wasn't on the roster.
It made the entire 2021 season a bit of a waste.
Enter Ewers.
The arrival of the former Texas commit turned Ohio State signee, turned Ohio State transfer, meant that Sarkisian had a new gunslinger to dream about when his head hit the pillow all off-season and he dreamed about the post-rebuild Longhorns.
Forget about La-Monroe in 13 days. Forget about Alabama in 20 days. Who is the guy that Sarkisian believes is helping lead this team to double-digit wins and a possible conference title in 12-15 months from now? The answer to that question needs to be the starting quarterback against La. Monroe and Alabama.
The answer to that question is Ewers and it has been the answer throughout the 2022 off-season.
With all due respect to Arch Manning, the player that could ultimately define Sarkisian's tenure in Austin, or at least the early portion of his tenure, it's the former 5-star from Southlake Carroll. After a 5-7 campaign a year ago, Sarkisian doesn't have the runway to simply wait until 2024, which is around the time the Manning family believes that Arch will be ready for maximum responsibility.
That leaves Ewers as the young man that carries a lot of the weight on his shoulders as the immediate and into-the-distant future for the program at the most important position in the sport.
None of this is news. The Mandalorian would have said, "This is the way" for the last nine months.
Let's give credit to third-year sophomore Hudson Card for somehow making a contest that most of us never thought would be a contest an actual battle that he was highly competitive in, but as @Anwar Richardson wrote on Sunday, it's absolutely imperative that moving forward there's a complete investment into Ewers from Sarkisian.
This season has to end in a 180-degree turn from the way the 2021 season ended. It must end with optimism at the position going into 2023 based on the lessons learned throughout the next four months.
Anything short of that will represent a massive disappointment.
The keys to the car are in the hands of Ewers. Drive us all home, young man.
No. 2 - About Hudson Card ...
Whatever doesn't kill you will make you stronger, right?
For the last nine months, Card has kept his head down, worked his butt off, and committed himself to see where the chips fall through the 2022 season. That he didn't win the starting job almost certainly doesn't change the mindset.
For now, he's going to get the majority of the work with the second-team offense and he'll need to stay ready because the odds suggest that at some point the Longhorns will need him in a game or two. Since 2010, only Sam Ehlinger in 2018 and 2019, along with Shane Buechele in 2016, have started every game of a 12-game season. Ehlinger was a warrior in every season he played in and was almost always banged up while playing when a lot of guys would have been healing on the sideline.
Perhaps Card will never be needed this season, but he just might be and if it turns out he is needed, he needs to be ready to pounce in the name of reminding every quarterback-needy team in 2023 that there's a good chance he'll end up in the Portal.
It'll be interesting to see if Tom Herman is back in the college coaching world next season because if he is, I wouldn't be shocked at all if we see a reunion. Regardless, he'll have options. His time will likely come, even if it's not at Texas.
In the meantime, he'll be a good teammate, get his degree and be a true Longhorn in every sense of the meaning.
No. 3 - Wrapping up the Scrimmage ...
From 30,000 feet up, here are some of the things that stood out to me from the words coming out of Saturday's scrimmage.
a. This is a team that will probably have a variety of highs and lows from game to game, quarter to quarter, and series to series this season. The folks I communicated with after the scrimmage stressed that point, although I would say that there was more excitement in those words than probably anything else. It's just a reminder that this is a team that is still evolving. There will be occasional pick-sixes on offense and occasional mishaps on defense and special teams.
As I said a week ago, the aim should be for the football to be better in October than September, and better in November than October, etc ...
b. Speaking of Ewers, guys with big arms often have to learn lessons the hard way about trusting the arm too much at this level. Don't freak out when it happens and goes bad. This is still kind of a daily learning process in that department. The kid has a cannon and believes in his ability aggressively. In time, he'll learn how to harness it.
c. Brennan Marion seems to have done a really good job with his unit over the last nine months. I think all of his guys in his receiving room have earned praise throughout camp and even with the injury to Isaiah Neyor, there seems to be a sense that they've got players who can make plays.
d. Ja'Tavion Sanders is unlike anything Texas has had at the tight end position since a young Bo Scaife played the position. It'll be interesting to see how much the tight end position gets worked into the passing offense because going through the tight end hasn't always been a staple of the Sarkisian passing game, but there's no question that Sanders is a legit scary kind of weapon as he enters year two.
e. I'm still not sure that this team knows where it will get its pass rush from on a consistent basis. Maybe it'll be a different guy or a different way each week ... horses for courses if you will. If there was a Vegas o/u on whether any player on the roster will break 4.5 for the season, the smart money might be the under at this stage of things.
f. Hearing that Jaylon Guilbeau is doing so well after being indefinitely suspended during the spring is a reminder of why coaches give second and third chances to guys. His progress in the last month suggests that we're talking about a future pro player if he can make sure to stay away from the Mount Rushmore of clutter that can drag a guy down.
g. Sark seems to like his interior line options. Those dudes need to come through in ways they didn't a season ago when Sark also felt strongly that he had a group that could be difference-makers. The distribution of snaps at this position will be fascinating to watch in the season opener.
h. Diamonte Tucker-Dorsey being a hit thus far in camp might just mean that Sarkisian will be more willing to take some Portal chances with non-power conference transfers in the future. Let's be honest ... him being an outright bust might have caused the opposite to occur.
i. No walk-on defensive back has generated as much daily buzz as a defensive backfield as Michael Taaffe since the early days of Marcus Griffin's career.
j. If Jordan Whittington stays healthy, he's going to have a big year. Fingers crossed.
No. 4 - Big shots on campus ...
(NOTE: NOT A SINGLE WORD OF THIS SECTION IS RELATED TO THE QUARTERBACKS. NONE. NOT ONE. THIS IS MERELY A FEW OFF-THE-FIELD NOTES FROM SATURDAY.)
Two additional nuggets to pass along from Saturday.
1. Most of the visit list for the scrimmage was comprised of very important money people within the program. It sounded like a who's who of people that matter were in attendance.
2. One of the goals of having the BMDs come into town was to continue to bring everyone together in the name of the forever-evolving NIL projects that are being developed behind the scenes. There seems to be a lot of balls in the air, but it doesn't happen without fundraising and more donations. After talking to a few people that were on hand, it seems like everyone better understands the urgency needed and the overall direction of where things are going.
If you want to donate money and be involved in the NIL collective, visit the HornsWithHeart website at HornsWithHeart.org
There's a long-form 501c3 that is approved by the IRS. Only two schools in the entire country have been approved for long-form applications - Texas and Notre Dame.
No. 5 - Some notes on the enemies ...
* No announcement on the quarterback position yet from La-Monroe, as both Chandler Rogers and Jiya Wright are fighting tooth and nail for the job. One person I spoke with this week that has La-Monroe connections believes that both will play in the opener against the Longhorns. Rogers was the primary quarterback in 2021, but only posted a 137 quarterback rating over 12 games. The quarterback position as a whole in 2021 for the Warhawks threw only 15 touchdown passes.
* Alabama held its second scrimmage on Saturday and the first-teams mostly dominated the second-teams from the look of it. Transfer Jahmyr Gibbs was a standout in limited action. Jermaine Burton, Traeshon Holden and Kobe Prentice are currently the three WRs in Alabama's first-team three-wide set. Holden was the guy on Saturday generating a ton of buzz.
* James Brockermeyer was running with the second team at center for Alabama on Saturday, while Tommy Brockermeyer was not running with the second team.
* Texas Tech is expected to name a starting quarterback this week, although new head coach Joey McGuire maintained that all three could play in the opener. “The one thing that I will tell y’all,” McGuire said. “We’re going to play all three week one. It won’t be a rotation, the other two will have packages.” All of that being said, the Vegas favorite has to be former transfer Tyler Shough.
* Sounds like the OU offense is a work in progress. Former superstar recruit Billy Bowman is having a great camp and is being discussed as one of the best players on the team, while 2021 five-star Clayton Smith is having a hard time getting involved beyond the second-team defensive line.
* Hearing Javon Gipson may be emerging as the favorite target for new starting Baylor quarterback Blake Shapen. The former unranked three-star from the Class of 2021 redshirted this season.
* I thought this was a must-read on Baylor coach Dave Aranda from ESPN.com.
* Don't be shocked if true freshman Ollie Gordon is starting at running back by the time the Longhorns play Oklahoma State. The running back position as a whole is a bit unsettled at this point.
No. 6 - Recruiting scatter shots ...
... The update from @Suchomel about safety commitment Derek Williams is less than optimal. With him wanting to take four more official visits, including potential stops at Alabama, LSU, Texas A&M, and Miami, it feels like his recruitment is potentially just beginning ... with all due respect to his commitment.
... We've entered a bit of a quiet stretch in recruiting in the post-commitment announcement of Jordan Matthews earlier this week. As best as I can tell, here are the commitment announcement timetables for the big dogs left in recruiting.
WR - Jalen Hale (Longview) - September 21st
DT - Kayden McDonald (Suwanee, Georgia) - Sometimes in October
TE - Deuce Robinson (Phoenix, Arizona) - Undecided
DT - Markis Deal (Naaman Forest) - Undecided
DE - David Hicks Jr. (Katy Paetow) - Under Armour All-American Game
DE - Damon Wilson (Venice, Florida) - Undecided
LB - Tausili Akana (Lehi, Utah) - Undecided
CB - Javien Toviano (Arlington Martin) - Undecided
... The Longhorns are not going to give up on Westlake defensive end Colton Vasek and there's scuttlebutt that he'll at last leave the lines of communication open. Recent commitment or not, this one isn't likely over. If you're the Longhorns, you just want to get him on campus and the chipping away will take care of itself.
... The loss of Matthews to Tennessee wasn't that big of a deal in my mind. While he's a very good prospect, Texas is targeting more important DB prospects, has a great start on the position in the 2024 class, and can find a mostly like-for-like substitute in this class somewhere in the state of Texas if the coaches want to.
... Rivals national analyst Adam Gorney on 2023 tight end target Deuce Robinson a few days ago:
"This summer at the Elite 11, Robinson worked out for three straight days and caught a lot of passes from USC quarterback commit Malachi Nelson and a decent amount from current USC quarterback Caleb Williams, who worked out at the event as well. After Robinson worked with those guys he seemed to soak it all in and love it as the Trojans continue to be considered the frontrunner. But not as big of a leader as imagined.
The No. 1 tight end in the 2023 class has a good relationship with Texas QB commit Arch Manning and that’s a huge draw. Alabama and Georgia will be two schools mentioned but the Bulldogs have two tight ends committed and Alabama just flipped Ty Lockwood from Ohio State. Oregon continues to be a possibility but now Louisville is a real threat as well. There might be some healthy skepticism that Robinson would actually end up with the Cardinals but there’s one source who’s certain it could happen - emphasis on could.
'It’s real, this source said."
... TE commitment Spencer Shannon looks like a power forward prospect in basketball
... The best of Arch from the weekend.
No. 7 – BUY or SELL …
(Sell) It's a stupid suggestion. This isn't Friday Night Lights. Frankly, it's strange how such an idea even carries on. I mentioned the suggestion of it on Friday as an example of some of the wild stuff being said behind the scenes in calls, texts, emails and DMs I had received, and somehow that got twisted into some kind of validation of it. The suggestions of innuendos were ridiculous. Yet, in case anyone needs any further clarity, no Sarkisian did not pick his starting quarterback based on pressure from alums. Good grief.
(Sell/Sell) Young quarterbacks throw interceptions and we've heard throughout camp that a few of these seemingly take place every day. I'd go with an average of one per game this season. That being said, I don't believe throwing more than 10 interceptions automatically means Texas can win only 7 games. It certainly lends towards the probability of something like that statement being true, but there's room to win more with that level of turnovers.
(Buy) Just like a year ago, we might be splitting hairs on whether either quarterback playing makes a difference in the team's won/loss record. Ewers is the guy they believe has the highest ceiling. It's time to invest in the ceiling.
(Buy) I didn't even hesitate. I think Casey will play well, but his weapons in Lincoln ain't like the weapons Ewers has in Austin.
(Sell) I'm #TeamOvershown. Thinking he might lead the team as a pass rusher this season.
(Buy) Stuff happens in college football.
(Buy) I will say that the Texas fan base isn't any worse than most big-time college football fan bases on the Internet. There's no such thing as a stable college football message board on a game day when things go sideways.
(Sell) Gotta get back up on that horse and ride again.
crows beat grackles in a fight to the death?
(Buy) The crow is the bigger bird, so they have the size advantage. It must be said, though, that grackles learn their fighting on the streets and would probably fight with dirty tactics.
(Sell) I'm kind of off the 40 points per game on offense bandwagon.
(Sell) He's not a punk. Come on.
(Sell/Buy/Sell/Buy/Buy/Buy) It's too early for me to say that Texas wins all of its home games other than the Alabama game. It hasn't earned that benefit of the doubt. I wonder if either Bijan or Worthy will get enough volume for those types of numbers. You should have left the honorable mentions qualifier out of the mix because it would make for a better question. I'd sell and buy those questions, respectively, if the honorable mentions qualifies is removed.
(Sell) I think the first and third things are the most important. His arm talent is such that 50% is too low of a number and I'd probably list the hangover at about 20 percent. Maybe 10% or less on BMD influence. Honestly, it was always going to be Ewers. At least that always made the most sense.
(Sell) What's a heavy dose? 5 snaps over 60 minutes? Sure. 10+? I'm not so sure.
(Buy) This is a team with a freshman quarterback that hasn't thrown a pass in a game since his junior year in high school, it's got a questionable offensive line, a lack of proven playmakers on defense, major special teams question marks, depth issues, youth issues and a head coach still trying to master being the main cook in the kitchen. The difference between 5-7 and 7-5 is probably being on the wrong side of two more 50-50 games than you'd hope for.
(Buy) I'll buy fair.
(Buy/Buy/Buy) I don't care if it's a chickenshit thing to do. It's in the best interest of the program.
(Sell) This Alabama defense is going to be geared to shut him down and make Ewers beat them. This Alabama defense is going to be really good.
(Sell) It's really, really hard to have two first-team receivers in the Big 12 because almost every team in the conference will produce one with outstanding numbers.
No. 8 - Scattershooting ...
... The NFL is back, baby! Seriously, how big of a loser do you have to be in order to get into a fight in the fourth quarter of a PRE-SEASON GAME!
... The Cowboys might have themselves a little something-something with KaVontae Turpin returning kickoffs.
... As well as Sam Ehlinger continues to play in Indianapolis in the pre-season (19 of 22 for 224 yards and four touchdowns), there's still a massive expectation that he's going to be the third-string quarterback for the Colts behind Nick Foles. I found this from TheAthletic.com very interesting: "After conversing with Colts GM Chris Ballard after last season, the former Texas star hooked up in March with throwing guru Tom House, where he rebuilt his arm, core and legs and worked through several mechanical changes in his throwing motion."
The Colts aren't 100 percent sure they'll keep three quarterbacks, which means that they might put him on waivers and risk someone stealing him if they try to keep him relegated to the practice squad. I wonder if there's a trade partner out there somewhere?
... I don't know if Lil'Jordan Humphrey is going to make the Patriots' final roster, but I would think this will endear him to Bill Belichick.
... God, I miss this.
... I'm having kind of a hard time understanding why the New York Yankees retired Paul O'Neil's number. Really?
... As a Liverpool fan, I really have a hard time watching Man City play. I just hate the feeling of knowing that they are almost always two seconds away from scoring.
... Well done, Leeds. Well done.
... Minnesota United fans singing Wonderwall after beating Austin FC on Saturday night was kind of dope. It sounded fantastic.
... Best Tweet of the Weekend following UFC 278 on Saturday night
No. 9 - The List: My Top 10 Ketch Misses of all-time ...
Ok, I'm game. It's topical. I'm fairly self-deprecating. I love a good ponder over 20+ years.
There are rules, though. Stuff that I didn't do isn't eligible. Reporting that wasn't mine isn't eligible. Also, no politics. Let's not ruin a fairly fun/funny thing by turning the topic into Corral fodder.
Not eligible: "The Worm has Turned" article - The Longhorns won the Big 12, beat OU for the fourth time in five years, won the Big 12 title, played for a national championship and had a top 3 recruiting class in the five months that followed. What I wrote was true and stayed true for 13 months. Then the worm turned again.
One on the radar: Tommy Brockermeyer (2021) I really need him to emerge as a force before his career ends because I ignored his injury situation and referred to him as a six-star as a prospect.
10. "Shaka Smart is a Damn Good Coach" - The context doesn't matter, nor does the fact that coaches that aren't damn good typically don't take three teams to the NCAA Tournament, coach at the Team USA level and take a mid-major to the Final Four. I stood on the table for an incredibly unpopular coach for the simple reason that I thought he was catching a bit too much poor mouthing in 2018. This was a case of me throwing myself into the fray of a battle that I didn't need to. In the article, I admitted that he had been a disaster at Texas, which made my decision certainly curious in retrospect.
9. Marcus Johnson TV Dinner remark (2011) - As you'll see throughout the list, off the cuff comments on the message board make up 30% of the list. In one of the very early LSR 100 rankings discussions for the 2012 class, Johnson's dad was on the board hyping his son up as a major college prospect. At the time, he had only a very small handful of offers and I joked that the Longhorns were trying to recruit filet mignons and not TV dinners. Within a few months, Johnson was a four-star prospect that I had ranked No. 31 in the state. I'm still very ashamed that I wrote such a rude thing.
8. Tray Allen (2007) or Reggie Wilson (2010) - Of the 24 players that I have ever listed as the No. 1 player in my LSR Top 100 rankings going back to 1997, only six have been outright busts that never really sniffed an NFL roster. Of those six, only two were players that weren't greatly slowed down by injuries ... Allen and Wilson. While both played more than 40+ games in their careers, neither was a consistent contributor. For the record, Allen made six career starts at Texas, while Wilson made two. In retrospect, Dez Bryant should be No. 1 in 2007, while Luke Joeckel should have been No. 1 in 2010. You can also make a case that ranking BJ Johnson over Roy Williams was a really, really poor call.
7. The 2006 Texas A&M Game - I went on the radio in Houston and Dallas on the eve of the game and predicted that Texas would win the game by five touchdowns. Texas lost 12-7.
6. 85-percent (2015) - Fresh off his unofficial visit to Texas and following a conversation with an Allen ISD official who had told me that Kevin Murray made a call to start the process of setting up a press conference to announce that Kyler was going to flip to Texas, someone asked me in a chat session what percentage I would put on Murray coming to Texas. I replied, "On a 1-10 scale of UT confidence for Murray, I've got it at an 8.5." The next day I tried to clarify by saying, "Better than 50-percent. The other puzzle pieces are helping UT's chances... "Those percentages are arbitrary. I don't know how to handicap the percentage. 85-percent is better than 50-percent." No one ever paid attention to that next-day clarification. Yes, this has taught me not to handicap numbers loosely, especially in the heat of a moment.
5. It's Austin (2011) - We had reported that Teryl Austin was going to be Mack Brown's new defensive coordinator after talking to several sources, including a player that was introduced to Austin on the 40 Acres (as the new DC). Overnight, Austin got cold feet and he bailed. Before we could catch up to the story, @utx had made a message board post saying Austin was out. In a rush, I replied back, "It's Austin." While I will claim that my two-worded response was short because I was scrambling to get new info, it came across to some like I was being a jerk.
4. I give you permission to dream big (2016) - I feel for the damn Charlie Strong okie-doke. Before the start of the 2016 season, I had been very bearish on the team and the program. Just a few weeks earlier I had written a column titled "I still can't go higher than 7 wins". All it took was for two wins to occur against flawed teams (although that Notre dame win felt big at the time) and I threw all of the things I knew about the 2016 Longhorns out the window. Three months later, Strong was fired.
3. Hudson Card is the starter (2022) - Unlike a few of the recent off-the-cuff comments made on the message board, what happened on Thursday night was failed reporting. Period.
2. Garrett Gilbert in the 2010 season - People kind of forget that Colt McCoy's 2009 sats were actually very disappointing (his 147.4 efficiency rating was 26.4 points lower than in 2008), so I was very vocal in saying that Gilbert would put up better numbers than McCoy had the previous season. One thing that I said over and over again was that Gilbert would outplay McCoy's performance vs. Texas Tech, Oklahoma, and Nebraska. He actually did in a weird way accomplish that, but it doesn't change the fact that I thought Gilbert would be a superstar and he most certainly was not.
1. Bob Bender to Texas (1997) - I don't care that most of you don't remember this, but it was a national blunder. We had broken the Augie Garrido to Texas and Mack Brown to Texas stories in the previous 12-15 months, so there felt like as much pressure to break this story as any I've ever covered as a reporter. Using my old SID sources from the time when I worked there, I was tipped off that a press release announcing Bender to Texas had already been comprised and was being printed in mass quantities. Corroborated by another source close to the program, Andy Liscano announced that Bender was going to be the head coach, but he ended up announcing a few days later that he wasn't leaving Washington. Liscano and I got called into the news director's office and got our butts chewed out.
No. 10 - And Finally ...
Calling all of our subscriber base, DJ wants to go to a Texas game this year, but he might need to sit in a suite because of his immune system.
Anyone out there with a way of helping make this happen? Let's do some good!
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