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Texas quarterback Quinn Ewers has been a spectator during two thrilling weeks of college football.
Ewers watched his backup quarterback guide Texas to three wins during his absence. Arch Manning replaced Ewers after the starting quarterback sustained a strained and strained against UTSA. Manning scored five touchdowns off the bench during that win. He went through the typical growing pains of a young quarterback against Louisiana-Monroe, but rebounded with a solid performance against Mississippi State. The plan was for Ewers to sit for three weeks and be ready for Texas-Oklahoma this week. I reported last week that he received first-team reps on Tuesday and is expected to start in the Red River Rivalry.
In addition, Ewers saw Alabama quarterback Jalen Milroe emerge as the leading Heisman Trophy candidate—until Saturday night. Milroe joined Ole Miss quarterback Jaxson Dart and Georgia’s Carson Beck on the Heisman Trophy bench. Colorado’s Travis Hunter is still in the conversation, while Miami quarterback Cam Ward and Boise State running back Ashton Jeanty are in the picture. Heck, Alabama receiver Ryan Williams might be the best player in college football.
The door is open for Ewers. Suppose he puts up a strong performance against Oklahoma and Georgia in back-to-back weeks. In that case, he has a chance to re-enter the Heisman conversation, be viewed as the best quarterback in college football, and continue leading Texas down the path to an SEC Championship and national championship.
Time to shine, Ewers.
College football is officially out of control—and the past two weeks have been spectacular.
Alabama coach Kalen DeBoer had his staff put rat traps around their football facility to warn players not to take Vanderbilt lightly. However, Saturday night’s game was like an episode of Tom and Jerry because those rat traps meant nothing to a smart mouse.
Vanderbilt 40, No. 1 Alabama 35.
Alabama and Tennessee were on a collision course in two weeks. That game had a chance to be in the national spotlight. However, the contest has been rerouted like directions on Waze.
No. 4 Arkansas 19, Tennessee 14.
Some college football observers questioned if Texas A&M should make a quarterback change. Others wondered if Mike Elko was in over his head after narrow wins against Bowling Green and Arkansas. Missouri had the opportunity to show supporters why it is important to continue pouring NIL money into the program.
No. 25 Texas A&M 41, No. 9 Missouri 10.
Washington knocked off No. 10 Michigan. Minnesota pulled off an upset win against No. 11 USC. An unranked SMU team defeated No. 22 Louisville.
Two weeks ago, Alabama defeated Georgia, and that was the most impressive win this season.
Meanwhile, Ole Miss was exposed in a loss against an unranked Kentucky team.
Texas is returning from a bye week to a schedule that looks dramatically different than a week ago.
Texas-Oklahoma is still an important rivalry game. That has not changed.
Texas vs. Georgia next week once again has a chance to be No. 1 vs. No. 2 if both teams win on Saturday. Georgia will face Mississippi State, but nothing can be taken for granted during this unpredictable college football season.
However, the second half of the Longhorn season has suddenly become trickier than expected.
Vanderbilt on the road? That is no longer an easy win.
Florida at home? Texas cannot take the Gators lightly.
Arkansas on the road? That tricky game is even trickier.
Kentucky at home? The Wildcats lost by one point against Georgia and knocked off Ole Miss.
Texas A&M at home? The Aggies are for real.
Texas needs a quarterback who can successfully navigate those landmines.
The return of Ewers means Texas football coach Steve Sarkisian has a quarterback who has performed well under pressure, excelled in hostile environments (Alabama and Michigan), and checks every box. If Texas drops a game this season, it will not be because Ewers played poorly. Instead, it would likely be because of several contributing factors.
Ewers will be close to 100 percent when Texas plays against Oklahoma this week.
I will admit, it seems a little odd to point out that Ewers is 2-0 in games after an injury. However, if you are looking for positivity, Ewers completed 21 of 31 passes for 289 yards and four touchdowns (182.2 passer rating) during a 49-0 victory against Oklahoma in 2022. Ewers completed 22 of 33 passes for 317 yards, one touchdown, and one interception (151.3 passer rating) during a 29-26 victory against TCU.
"I think it starts right when they get injured," Sarkisian said this week. "We always look to every player, but most notably the quarterback. When he gets injured, we want to pull him in even tighter. We want to pull him in even closer. When we're at practice, Quinn is engaged, he's in every meeting, he's talking about the game plan. Friday night we go through the call sheet with the quarterbacks. He's talking through different things. On Saturday, he's wearing the earpiece. We keep him engaged on that front. And then throughout the week, I'm really trying to assess the things that I think he's most comfortable with. Various injuries along the way, different types of injuries. Okay, what does it look like he's most comfortable with?
“And if he's going to play, I've already kind of listed out 10-15, maybe 20 things that I think he feels really good about, and we'll probably go in that direction if he were to play, so that he's running stuff that he's had some success with throughout the week, as opposed to saying, this looks like a great play design, it should work, but either he didn't rep it because of limited reps during the week, or when he did get that rep, it didn't look so good. The stubborn me would still call that play. The guy that tries to step back and try to put his players in the best position to be successful goes to his bucket of the stuff that I thought he did well throughout the week.”
There is another reason Texas needs Ewers to be successful.
This program cannot afford anything less.
Last year, the Longhorn plan was for Ewers to have a great season, enter the NFL Draft, and Manning would start in 2024. Ewers chose to play another year at Texas, and Manning is a backup quarterback this season.
The worst-case scenario for everyone involved would be Ewers not turning pro after this season. That would result in uncomfortable conversations for Sarkisian, Ewers, and Manning.
Instead, Longhorn fans should rally around Ewers and hope for the best-case scenario.
Ewers guides Texas through a tough three-game stretch (Oklahoma, Georgia, and Vanderbilt—seriously), before his team’s next bye week. Texas needs Ewers to finish strong down the stretch.
In addition, Milroe and Dart have exited the Heisman Trophy conversation, but Ewers can re-enter the discussion if he picks up where he left off before the injury.
Time to shine, Ewers.
“We need Quinn back because he's our quarterback,” Sarkisian said after Mississippi State. “He's our leader. I think that that impacts the entire team in belief. But what I think we learned, and what Arch kind of earned here over the last two and a half games is this team can count on him, too. There's not a lot of teams in the country that can think, whichever guys in there, we can go win, and we can play good football, and we can count on that guy to do his job. We don't ask our quarterbacks to do more than what they're capable of doing, and those guys are both capable of a lot. They're both very talented players. They're really good leaders. They inspire people around them to play even better."
“But yeah, when we get Quinn back, we're all going to be excited for that. We also know, gosh, what a luxury that we do have, and what valuable, invaluable experience Arch got here over the last two and a half games.”
Funniest Things You Will See This Week
This is the best narration I have heard in a long time
This is the second-best narration I have heard in a long time (bad language alert)
He nailed the Deion Sanders impression
Nick Saban loved to rip reporters and analysts as a coach. He is learning this job is not as easy as he thought.
Sports On A Dime
1. I was told Texas had a great week of practice. One person told me everyone was dialed and the staff loved seeing this team’s energy during practice. Everyone inside the building expects to continue that momentum heading into Texas-Oklahoma week.
2. Texas football coach Steve Sarkisian’s response on the SEC Media Conference call when asked if he would find ways to play Arch Manning with Quinn Ewers returning: “When I was a starter, I never wanted the backup to come into the game, even for a play. I remember my senior college, I've been banged up, and coaches wanted to run a quarterback draw [with the backup QB]. [I said] no, you're not. They called the play and I scored a touchdown. I've got respect for a guy who is the starting quarterback and the rhythm that's needed to play with. So, no, that's not something I've ever entertained.”
3. Sarkisian on his recruitment of Alabama quarterback Jalen Milroe: “We had Jalen in camp at Alabama. Great kid, great parents. Obviously, the athleticism was there, the arm talent was there. I gave him a lot of credit. He's really worked at his craft. He’s developed into a really versatile (player). He just doesn't rely on athleticism. He's a great deep-ball passer. He can extend plays with his (legs). He extends plays and uses his legs. They use him for direct runs. So, you know, you have an envision of what you think a kid could be early on in his high school career, and then to watch it kind of come to fruition. I'm happy for him, but also validates some of the things that you see and that you're looking for in the next guys coming up.”
4. If Texas defeats Oklahoma, ESPN College GameDay might be in Austin for Texas-Georgia on October 19. I received an email this past week gauging my interest in interviewing one of the GameDay hosts on October 18 in Austin. I was told a final decision would be made on October 14. Alabama vs. Tennessee is on October 19, too. However, the game does not have the same appeal after both teams were defeated on Saturday.
5. Speaking of the Red River Rivalry, that Oklahoma quarterback room will be interesting heading into this week’s game. Multiple people told me former Longhorn quarterback Casey Thompson received significant second-team reps this past week in practice. Arnold has appeared in four games and I was told Oklahoma would like to preserve his redshirt season. I am sure the spin doctors will work overtime to say that is inaccurate. However, I would love to hear a strong argument for wasting a redshirt season for Arnold.
6. Texas A&M looked like a playoff team against Missouri. The Aggies have a manageable schedule, with LSU at home. The season finale between Texas and Texas A&M could be the most important game of this season for both teams.
7. This is just brutal
8. It is safe to say Drew Brees adopted the toughness of New Orleans.
9. RIP Dikembe Mutombo
10. It has been a long year for Austin FC fans
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