Bobby
There’s a lot to digest from last night.
- We could spend all day dissecting what went wrong in pass protection for the Horns.
- The Longhorn offensive line was clearly overwhelmed way too often.
- Yet Quinn Ewers did his teammates no favors.
In the face of a legit pass rush, Ewers folded as easily as a piece of paper in a book.
- He repeatedly bailed backwards instead of stepping into the pocket.
In doing so, Ewers gave the Georgia pass rushers an even larger target. Georgia could use the wide pass rush and therefore make the Texas OTs protect more space.
The Georgia DL did NOT need more space to operate. That space also gave Georgia edges an easier two-way go.
- Ewers is also not recognizing hot reads quickly or getting the ball out with the right amount of urgency. Last night, he too often tried to quarterback like it was a game of 7-on-7, not tackle football.
It’s a problem we saw against Oklahoma, too. An unwillingness to step into throws is an unwillingness to be hit. Football is a contact sport.
- In sum, Ewers’ overall lack of pocket presence and inconsistent footwork gave the Texas offense very little chance of success, especially in the face of a highly effective pass rush.
Texas needed Ewers to step up. He didn’t.
Ewers is perilously close to losing his starting job if performances like these in the face of adversity continue.
He turned the ball over three times last night. It easily could have been five or six.
- Things are never as good or as bad as they seem.
The Texas offense can rebound. But Ewers needs to become a quarterback, not just an operator that requires a clean pocket to succeed.
This will not be his last poor performance or the last loss for the Horns, otherwise.