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As I stood on the sidelines at DKR during the closing moments of Texas' loss against Georgia, one thought left me optimistic before the 15-point defeat was finalized. I had a feeling about what Texas football coach Steve Sarkisian would say after the game. He would recite the standard line coaches give after their first loss of the season. However, I was just glad it would occur in Week Eight of this season as opposed to the first non-conference game, and most definitely after the Red River Rivalry—an early-season disappointment I’ve witnessed for numerous years.
I had a feeling Sarkisian was going to pull out, "All our goals are still ahead of us," from the Coaching Press Conference Manual. Texas entered this game as the number-one-ranked team in the country and will still be in the top 10 when the AP Poll is released on Sunday. No undefeated conference teams remain in the SEC. Texas still has an opportunity to appear in the conference championship game. The Longhorns still look like a playoff team. All is not lost.
"Everything we want is still in front of us," Sarkisian said. "The challenge for us is to be able to regroup and get ourselves back up off the mat, prepare for a Vanderbilt team that's going to be hungry for us coming to town, and get our momentum back going in the right direction. We need to finish out the second phase of the season trying to get a W and work ourselves back toward where we want to go."
However ...
Quinn Ewers needs to become elite again.
There is no way to sugarcoat what occurred on Saturday. Ewers played poorly in three out of four quarters against Georgia. Outside of the third quarter, he struggled to avoid sacks, held the ball too long, did not throw accurate passes, could not stretch the Georgia defense with his arm, and did not play like the quarterback who was a preseason Heisman Trophy contender.
It was so bad that Sarkisian pulled Ewers in the second quarter and replaced him with Arch Manning—the same Sarkisian who spent the past week defending Ewers, even becoming angry when a reporter asked what kind of performance would warrant pulling the quarterback during a game.
Well, the question has now been answered.
However, that led to several valid post-game questions.
I asked Sarkisian what went into his decision to bench Ewers.
"My feeling in the game was I felt Quinn was a little uneasy, and I just felt like giving him a chance to step back and regroup," Sarkisian said. "I didn't know if we'd get a series or two with Arch, depending on how much time was remaining in the half. So, we told Quinn, ‘Hey, we're going to go with Arch here, give you a chance to get in the locker room, regroup, and then come back out in the second half.’ And so, that's what we did. I felt like it was effective. I thought Quinn came out and played a much better second half and played well in the third quarter."
In addition, I asked Sarkisian if Ewers is still his starter or if there will be a quarterback competition with Manning.
"Quinn's our starting quarterback," Sarkisian said. "I appreciate that we're fortunate enough to have a backup like Arch, who can come into the game and provide a spark. But at the end of the day, Quinn's our starter. Like I said, we've got to do a better job around him. I think he would tell you he can play better, but we've got to coach better. Everybody's got to be better for our offensive football team to perform better."
Then other reporters chimed in.
Q: A couple of weeks ago, you said Ewers was better at handling criticism now than in the past. How will that help him heading into Vanderbilt?
Sarkisian: "I thought we saw the competitor in Quinn really come out in the second half. I'm sure he wasn’t the happiest guy with me, that he got taken out for a couple of series. I’m sure he wanted to stay in there and try to work his way through it. I had to make a decision for what I felt was best for the team in that moment, but also best for him in that moment. Sometimes the players don't always see that, but I think when he takes a step back and looks at it, he’ll understand I was trying to do what was in his best interest to get him kind of recalibrated, reset, to go play the second half. I think he will acknowledge the coaching. He's definitely been coachable with us. I think he's got a lot of good football ahead of him this season."
Q: Can you assess what you saw from Ewers? He normally plays well in big games.
"I just didn’t think he was at his best. A lot of things that I’ve seen him do, I wasn’t quite seeing. I didn’t think maybe his eyes were where they needed to be. That’s why I felt like he just needed to kind of reset and regroup at halftime. Got to credit [AJ] Milwee for helping him reset. I thought he competed his tail off in the second half."
Q: Is Georgia’s pass rush the reason why Quinn’s eyes were not where they needed to be? How do you recalibrate when the offensive line has a performance like this?
"I think a couple of things. Sometimes it’s the pass rush, sometimes it’s the coverage. There’s a variety of reasons why a quarterback’s eyes may not be where they need to be. Again, that’s me on the sidelines trying to watch a game from field level. When I get a chance to look at the tape, I may have something different for you guys on Monday. I don’t think we put our offensive line in an ideal situation tonight with the way the game was going. We’ve got a very good offensive line. Tonight wasn’t their best night either. All of us, myself included, it wasn’t our best night. But that’s the life of a competitor. We choose to be the ones in the arena competing. Tonight wasn’t our best night, but we get another opportunity to go do it again next week."
Here’s the reality:
Sarkisian has to fix whatever the problem is with Ewers right now.
After the win against Oklahoma, Ewers simply said he needed to play better.
After the loss against Georgia, Ewers said he was not operating at 100 percent.
Sarkisian has decided that whatever percentage Ewers is operating at is better than a 100-percent healthy Manning. If that’s the case, Sarkisian must figure out how to get the most out of his quarterback.
Meanwhile, those close to Ewers should have a real conversation with him this week.
In life, the first time you do something is often the hardest. However, you usually become more comfortable with the task the second time.
Sarkisian pulled Ewers once. That had to be a difficult decision for him. Ewers is Sarkisian’s guy. From the moment Ewers decided to leave Ohio State for Texas, Sarkisian has been all in. Casey Thompson knew it. Hudson Card knew it. We knew it.
Ewers and Sarkisian have been through disappointing losses together. They’ve enjoyed big wins. Sarkisian has been the biggest supporter of Ewers.
Last year, the goal was for Ewers to have a great season, enter the NFL Draft, and Manning was supposed to be the starting quarterback in 2024. When Ewers wanted to return, Sarkisian informed Manning he would be a backup quarterback for another season.
And Sarkisian benched THAT guy — HIS guy — against Georgia.
They need to tell Ewers the truth.
Sarkisian did it once.
If Sarkisian is forced to bench Ewers again, there is no turning back.
The Heisman conversation is over. Heck, screw talking about Ewers and the NFL Draft.
He must get off the canvas and lead his team to a win against Vanderbilt on Saturday. After that game, finish strong against Florida, Arkansas (road game), Kentucky, and Texas A&M (road game).
Yes, all the goals are still in front of them.
However ...
Ewers needs to become elite again.
"The beauty of it, like I said, is everything we want is still out there for us," Sarkisian said. "But we know as a team we need to play better than we did tonight, regardless of the opponent. We are a better team than we played tonight. We just didn’t do it.
"Our job as a staff and with our leaders on the team is to figure out how to get back to playing that style of football we’re so accustomed to. It just didn’t happen for us [on Saturday]."
Photo via AP
Individual Notes
(Provided by UT)
QUINN EWERS, QB
• As a result of 2-yard passing touchdown to Isaiah Bond to cap Texas' opening series of the third quarter, Ewers extended his streak of consecutive games played with at least one passing touchdown to 18 straight. Ewers has thrown at least one touchdown pass in every game played in the 2023 and 2024 seasons. He last failed to throw a touchdown in a game on Nov. 25, 2022, when he went 12-of-16 for 192 yards against Baylor.
• Saturday night marked the 15th time over the course of his three-year career on the Forty Acres that Ewers has tossed for two-or-more touchdowns in a single season.
QUINTREVION WISNER, RB
• The sophomore out of Glenn Heights, Texas finished with a career-high five receptions on 10 targets throughout Saturday night's action.
JAKE MAJORS, C
• Saturday's game against Georgia marked the 49th start of Majors' career, tying him with Derek Kerstetter (2017-21), Quandre Diggs (2011-14) and Dan Neil (1993-96) for eighth on the program's all-time starts list.
JAHDAE BARRON, DB
• With his interception of Georgia quarterback Carson Beck with three minutes remaining in the third quarter, Barron set a career-high with two interceptions of the Bulldog signal caller.
• Barron became the first Longhorn student-athlete with two interceptions in a single game since D'Shawn Jamison accomplished the feat at West Virginia on Oct. 5, 2019, a
span of 63 games.
MICHAEL TAAFFE, DB
• Taaffe finished the night's action with a career-high nine tackles. His previous high of eight was set against Houston on Saturday, Oct. 21.
JERMAYNE LOLE, DL
• Like his teammate Michael Taaffe, Lole also set a single-game career high in tackles with six during his first season on the Forty Acres after arriving from Louisville as a graduate transfer.
Funniest Things You Will See This Week
(This section is always better after a win)
Nothing makes me feel older than a checkout line
I’m sure the parents of teenagers can identify
This is for dog lovers
Sports On A Dime
1. Here is a press release from the SEC regarding the Texas-Georgia officiating:
“With 3:12 to play in the third quarter of the Georgia at Texas game, Texas intercepted a pass at the Texas 46-yard line and returned it to the Texas 9-yard line. Texas was flagged for committing defensive pass interference on the play which resulted in Georgia maintaining the ball with a first down.
“The game officials gathered to discuss the play, which is permitted to ensure the proper penalty is enforced, at which time the calling official reported that he erred, and a foul should not have been called for defensive pass interference. Consequently, Texas was awarded the ball at the Texas 9 yard line.
“While the original evaluation and assessment of the penalty was not properly executed, it is unacceptable to have debris thrown on the field at any time.
“The disruption of the game due to debris being thrown onto the field will be reviewed by the Conference office related to SEC sportsmanship policies and procedures.”
2. Georgia football coach Kirby Smart did not hold back after this team’s victory.
3. Texas men’s basketball coach Rodney Terry’s response during SEC Media Days when asked about facing Chris Beard this season: “Great question. Chris Beard and I go way, way back. You're talking about 25 years of friendship. One of my really, really close friends in the business. I wouldn't have this opportunity here at Texas if he wasn't kind enough to bring me back to Texas. Previously I was with Rick Barnes for nine years at Texas and got a chance to come back and embark on a second stint at Texas with the hope that we're going to get a chance to build a National Championship team, a team that gets to play on Monday night.
"But he and I, our friendship, we're still really close right now. We're still talking, communicating at a high level, talking about other opponents other than ourselves and things of that nature.
"But you talk about a great person and a great coach, Chris Beard is that kind of guy. This league, I think, again, we're built for it in terms of our culture. I think it's a league, again, that there are going to be nights where you have to be really physical. There are going to be nights where you're really going to have to try to score the basketball. There are going to be nights where you really have to take care of the basketball, and from top to bottom, there are no nights off in this league.
I alluded to the fact earlier that they're great coaches, coaches that have taken their teams to the Final Four, and there's been great players in this league, and obviously a lot of really good intimate environments to play in that will be great venues.”
4. Terry’s response when asked what is the best aspect of this year’s team: “Wow, that's a great one. Great question. I'll tell you what, I think the best thing about this group that we've put together is I think these guys all really like each other. I think that's so important in this day and time. In the summer when you bring your team in, you really try to establish some chemistry for guys. This group here, I think they did it organically. You don't want as a coach to have to say, Hey, guys, you guys need to hang out together over here or you guys plan on doing this, doing these things together. This group loves being around each other. I think they cut up with each other off the court. They spend a lot of time off the court with each other.
“Again, when you have great chemistry off the court, I think it lends you an opportunity to have really good chemistry on the court, and I think these guys will have each other's back. I challenge them to be great teammates every day, but I think they truly like being around each other. I see them cutting up and having fun with each other. And to me, that's the best part of it because it's really what makes their experience -- what it's all about. Those are the moments that they're going to remember the most, when they're on the bus, cutting up on the bus and having fun in the bus, when they're back in the locker room and they're talking like they're at the barbershop, which they do. We've got Nic Codie, another freshman. He's a barbershop guy. He's back there and he's holding court.
“But I hear that, and that's what you miss as a coach, when you were a player. You miss being around your teammates and having fun and cutting up. That's what it's all about. And so that's what I would say about this team. I think they all really like each other, and I think they're all super competitive. And I'm excited about our journey, and we've got a long ways to go, but I really like this group a lot.”
5. Terry on freshman Tre Johnson emerging into an instant leader for his program: “Well, absolutely. Tre, again, I alluded to the fact that we have six returners and six guys from the portal, four freshmen. So we've got 10 new players. Again, the blend of old and the blend of new and young, he being one of the young guys and a guy that I think, again, wants to get familiar with -- he's a guy that's deserving of being here today. He's an extremely talented player, top 5 player in the country last year in his class. He's been the best player in his class in the state of Texas his entire career. He's a guy that we think fits our culture at a very high level in terms of what he brings to the table. Super competitive, a kid that wants to get better every day. He's proud of being from the state of Texas and representing Texas at the flagship program, and he's a super competitor.
“I got a chance to coach Kevin Durant for one year at Texas, and he and Kevin have a lot of things that kind of cut from the same cloth in terms of incredible work ethic. He's a guy that you literally have to push him out of the gym. He's in the gym 24/7 much like Kevin was, and he's a super competitive kid. You put the scoreboard on, and he's competing at another level in terms of really wanting to win and competing at a very high level. He's a guy that we're counting on this year to have a big year and do big things in Austin.”
6. Just when you thought it could not get worse in Oklahoma, Sooners coach Brent Venables made it worse. The decision to burn Jackson Arnold’s redshirt season during Oklahoma’s 35-9 loss against South Carolina was horrible. This staff spent the entire offseason preparing Arnold for the job, quit on him after a couple of games, and decided to burn the quarterback’s redshirt year during a blowout loss. The good news for Arnold is he can receive reps in the remaining games before hitting the transfer portal.
Of course, Longhorn fans endured the Charlie Strong years, which means you have every right to enjoy Oklahoma’s pain.
7. It is hard to find a quarterback worthy of the Heisman Trophy award this season. It is either Colorado's Travis Hunter or Boise State running back Ashton Jeanty for me.
8. SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey addressed the media before Texas played against Georgia. He was asked if there was a legal way of putting up NIL and transfer portal guardrails and said, “Well, we're making some steps with the settlement of the house case, so that will provide a structure. Is it fully complete? That's going to be part of the learning experience. There was a lawsuit involving the NCA that was filed in West Virginia federal court that certainly creates limits on what we could do around transfer issues. There are academic policies that have been, I think, reviewed and emphasized again, but you have court outcomes that are creating realities, and that's reality.”
9. Sankey on how many SEC teams should make the playoffs: “One time I did the math. There's five, so there's seven available, one could be an automatic bid, so eight would be the high … That's like, factual. We'll see a lot of football to be played. We’re in week eight.”
10. I will take a last-minute Austin FC win to finish the season.
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