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2024 Playoffs Round 1: Clemson at Texas

Wulaw Horn

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satyanash

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Sam Khan Jr.: Texas’ CFP run will go as long as the Quinn Ewers experience allows, for better or worse

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AUSTIN, Texas — Quinn Ewers is one of the most visible players in college football. He has starred in a national Dr Pepper commercial, appeared on the cover of EA Sports College Football 25 and racked up more name, image and likeness deals than can be counted on two hands. But there are still unknowns about Ewers, which is a feat when you’re the starting quarterback for multiple seasons at the University of Texas. That job, one Ewers long dreamed of, has its perks and its pressures, which he was quizzed about Monday afternoon, surrounded by more than a dozen reporters for an interview ahead of the Longhorns’ College Football Playoff first-round game against Clemson. “You only think about the good whenever you’re a kid,” he said. “That’s just life, though.”

The best parts, Ewers said, were getting to know people from all walks of life on his team and building lasting relationships. The worst? He chuckled and paused as he considered it. “Man, it’s all just been a learning experience and nothing’s really been super miserable for me,” he said. “It’s all been a good time.” The Longhorns’ quarterback situation remains a subject of fascination, even though there isn’t much mystery to it. Ewers is Texas’ quarterback, and a good one, but his career on the Forty Acres hasn’t gone according to script.

Despite his former five-star status and golden arm, he hasn’t turned into the perennial All-American or Heisman Trophy finalist some projected he would be. Whether he’s regarded highly enough to be a first-round NFL Draft pick next spring remains an open question, and he deflected inquiries on Monday about his future beyond this season. Observers and fans alike have, at times, clamored for his backup with the similar recruiting profile and the famous last name: Arch Manning. But no matter what he faced, Ewers proceeded undeterred. Whether he was rebounding from a tough midseason stretch in 2022, recovering from injuries that have interrupted each of his three seasons on campus or gathering himself after getting benched in the second quarter of the Longhorns’ Oct. 19 loss to Georgia, Texas has been able to count on Ewers getting back up.

The Longhorns have national championship aspirations, thanks to a roster as good as any in the country, one of the most stable coaching staffs in the field and a defense with a case to be called the nation’s best. That’s been good enough to get them here. But if Texas plans to hoist the trophy on Jan. 20, Ewers and the offense holds the key. “We’ve all got to take our game to another level, and he’s no different, right?” Texas coach Steve Sarkisian said. “He’s got to do it.” Will he?

Texas fans pined for Ewers as a recruit out of in-state high school powerhouse Southlake Carroll. Ewers originally committed to the Longhorns but decommitted during the 2020 season, Tom Herman’s last as head coach, and flipped to Ohio State. Ewers reclassified to the Class of 2021 and joined the Buckeyes a year early, a move that allowed him to cash in because Texas state law prohibited high school athletes from profiting off their NIL. But his stay in Columbus lasted only four months, and he found his way back to Austin after Sarkisian’s 5-7 debut season, hailed as the quarterback who would lead Texas out of mediocrity.

Largely, Ewers has delivered on that expectation. Texas is 25-8 in games he has started, with a Big 12 championship, an SEC title game appearance and two consecutive Playoff appearances. Ewers was brilliant in the Longhorns’ 2023 road win at Alabama, a statement that the program had returned to serious contender status. His Week 2 performance at Michigan this year was similarly impressive. But the journey has been far from perfect. In a 20-19 home loss to Alabama in 2022, Ewers dazzled for a quarter but injured his clavicle after being driven into the turf and missed the next three games. In a 41-34 loss in windy conditions at Oklahoma State later that season, he had perhaps his worst performance as a Longhorn: three interceptions and a 19-for-49 passing effort.

“I still never forget sitting with him after we were at Stillwater and what that was like for him on the road,” Sarkisian said Monday. He didn’t complete 60 percent of his passes in any of the next three games, and some fans wondered whether a quarterback change was in order. Sarkisian stuck with Ewers.

The 2023 season brought increased scrutiny with the arrival of Manning. Sarkisian nipped that in the bud early, naming Ewers the starter in spring football. Ewers remade his body that offseason and had the best year of his career: a 69 percent completion rate, 3,479 passing yards, 8.8 yards per attempt, a 3.7 touchdown-to-interception ratio and a Big 12 championship. But it wasn’t without its difficulties. A shoulder injury knocked him out of two games, and he started slow in the Playoff semifinal against Washington, completing only half of his first 18 passes for 5.4 yards per attempt. Ewers turned it on in the fourth quarter, throwing for 216 yards and bringing Texas to within a play of the title game. Then he opted to return for one more year, citing the higher pro success rates for more experienced college quarterbacks.

The clean succession plan from Ewers to Manning would have to wait. With Ewers, four starting offensive linemen and a host of key defensive players returning, Texas entered this season as one of the top contenders for the SEC title and the Playoff. Texas dominated six overmatched opponents — including Michigan and Oklahoma — to vault to No. 1 in the Associated Press poll by midseason. But Ewers missed two of those games with a strained oblique suffered in a 56-7 win over UTSA. Manning dazzled in relief that night and started the next two in Ewers’ place, offering an enticing glimpse of Texas’ future. Then Georgia came to town and rocked Texas in a way nobody had. The Bulldogs’ fast, physical defense sacked Ewers five times. He completed just six of his first 12 passes for 17 yards and was briefly pulled for Manning, who didn’t fare much better in his lone series at the helm.

Sarkisian sent Ewers out to start the second half, and he found a groove and got Texas back in the game, pulling them from 23 points down to within a score before Georgia eventually put Texas away. But his second-half performance — 19 of 31, 194 yards, two touchdowns — won him even more respect from his teammates. “Adversity struck him right in the face,” Texas center Jake Majors said. “And he went back out on the field and drove us down the field. … It’s a testament to who he is as a person … because he was able to come out, deal with what he had to deal with and then it was just like nothing happened.”

Though Ewers hasn’t quite maintained peak form, he has played solid football since. But an ankle injury late in Texas’ Nov. 23 win over Kentucky has offered a new hurdle. Ewers played with a brace on it during the Longhorns’ win over Texas A&M and the SEC title loss to Georgia but didn’t require the brace in practice last week. “I’m good,” Ewers said of his health. In the SEC title, as Texas’ offense sputtered, some fans renewed their calls for the more mobile Manning. But Texas’ offensive failures had as much to do with Ewers’ supporting cast as the quarterback himself. Dropped passes — one of which resulted in an interception — and a nonexistent running game exacerbated red zone issues that have loomed for the Longhorns late this season. After being a top-10 red zone team at midseason, Texas has been one of the worst since mid-October, ranking 108th out of 134 teams while scoring touchdowns on just half of their trips inside the 20.

Sarkisian emphasized that everyone needs to step up, not just Ewers. But he believes in Ewers because of the quarterback’s body of work. “The way he’s responded throughout his career to injuries, to playing great, to having to find his way and fight through a game to … there’s been a lot of things in there to know this guy’s going to be ready to go and he’s going to find a way to put us in position to be successful,” Sarkisian said. Asked what stokes the team’s belief in Ewers, tight end Gunnar Helm had multiple answers to pick from: “The win on the road in Tuscaloosa. The win on the road in the Big House, the constant winning on the road in the SEC. It’s easy to trust Quinn as an offense.”

Ewers was predictably coy when pressed about his future, saying he is focused on winning games and hasn’t thought much about what’s beyond that. Asked whether he has thought about Saturday’s game being his last in Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium, he responded, “Maybe. We’ll see.” Currently, NFL scouts’ grades of Ewers for the 2025 NFL Draft range from the second round to the fourth round, according to The Athletic’s Dane Brugler. But with a thinner quarterback draft class, it won’t be a shock to see him go on the higher end of that spectrum should he turn pro. “With the playoffs and pre-draft process yet to go, Ewers will have every opportunity to help himself in the eyes of NFL teams,” Brugler said.

If things don’t go to plan and Ewers is projected on the low end of that range, could he return to school for one more year? It seems unlikely, especially with Manning waiting in the wings. Sarkisian said Monday he hasn’t discussed draft prospects with any of his eligible players, preferring to postpone those discussions until after the season. There has been no shortage of unsubstantiated speculation that Ewers could take a path similar to the one Dillon Gabriel did, returning for another year but transferring out. But those chances appear remote, with Orangebloods.com reporting last week that Ewers still plans to declare for the draft.

Whatever Ewers decides, expect it to be made with great care. “He doesn’t really care what anybody else outside our building thinks,” Helm said. That’s the way the Longhorns are operating heading into the Playoff. They’re good enough to win it all, and Sarkisian knows it. But only if they play at the level they’re capable of. Ewers embodies the resilience the Longhorns have shown when not at their best. And it’s that aspect of the team that gives Sarkisian the most comfort. Ewers said he’ll try not to build Saturday’s game up too much in his head. Whatever happens, he’ll keep responding the way he always has. “Stuff’s going to come your way,” he said. “You just gotta keep moving forward.”

 

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Wulaw Horn
Wulaw Horn

We didn’t win the sec in our first year. The zebras didn’t want us to. Burt Auburn didn’t want us to.  We had about 10 things go against us- any of which went down differently, and we’d have hoisted t

TreatyOak
TreatyOak

Greetings, my young friends. As promised, here an update on my night spent w/ some of our favorite Texas Longhorns! I was invited to cover a charity event. Raising Canes donated 100 bikes to th

TreatyOak
TreatyOak

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Hagbard Celine

Hagbard Celine 11206

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11 minutes ago, kevwun said:

Next up, how scoring more points than your opponent is a key to victory.

that was in the TOP SECRET section in the aggy PLAN 4 VIKTORY

they will be coming for you

7 minutes ago, tbone_ said:


Does west have 13 floors then? I could have sworn I was on the 13th floor. But there’s been a lot of water under the dam since then.

14

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DoobieWah

DoobieWah 1535

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4 hours ago, jimmyjazz said:

Yeah, East is 10, West is 14.

Or as we called it in 78-79, "The Penthouse" and if I recall correctly, it was the only non-coed floor in Jester. 

But the view towards the capitol was great. And you could see St. Edwards also; not sure you still can. 

 

We ran our RA off by the end of October. (He got sick of our shit!)

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BachelorTrek

BachelorTrek 3307

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9 hours ago, BurntOrange&White said:

 

CFP branding on the field

 

You notice the CFP is able to get the exact shade of color they want on our field, but in addition to banning Bevo so Dr. Pepper can have its inflatable barrels for its Dumbass throwing competition, the SEC championship in Atlanta put fucking rockytoppers bright orange on the field instead of our burnt orange color last week. Fuck them!

Mudhole clemPson!!

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Jimmy Two Times

Jimmy Two Times 908

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On 12/15/2024 at 5:56 PM, Steamboat1874 said:

That’s great.

So what if Manning comes in when we get to the red zone and throws a pick six.

Then what do you do?

What if Manning comes in and immediately runs for a 70 yard touchdown and then does so on every single ensuing offensive play from scrimmage 

Then what do you do?

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jdhorn92

jdhorn92 1594

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49 minutes ago, BrazilHorn said:

I just want Sark to shelve the play where QE fakes a hand off then spins around and does a screen pass to his blind side. 
 

Takes way too long to develop and teams with athletes on D blow it up as IOL for Texas is not great at holding blocks that long vs good D lines. 

Agreed, Michigan almost took it for a pick 6 as have a couple other teams this year... and seems like teams are on to that motion.  All the pre-snap movement also appears to not really be generating the defensive re- alignment its designed to elicit.  One thing i could see us doing is more 'orbit', where we throw to the WR motioning (ala D Smith at Bama and X last year) as a result of the defense not trailing/respecting that player as much.

I believe Sark with 2 weeks will come up with more wrinkles. 

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Red Five

Red Five 41703

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27 minutes ago, Jimmy Two Times said:

What if Manning comes in and immediately runs for a 70 yard touchdown and then does so on every single ensuing offensive play from scrimmage 

Then what do you do?

That would be hilarious. "If you're just joining us, the story thus far is Manning's seven rushes for 490 yards and seven touchdowns." 

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Codaxx

Codaxx 6239

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1 hour ago, BrazilHorn said:

I just want Sark to shelve the play where QE fakes a hand off then spins around and does a screen pass to his blind side. 
 

Takes way too long to develop and teams with athletes on D blow it up as IOL for Texas is not great at holding blocks that long vs good D lines. 

I will admit they have worked plenty of times, but I hate them. They are all or nothing plays. It either works great or is complete drive killer

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Codaxx

Codaxx 6239

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Just now, sidis said:

the only spinny-spin play i like seeing for quinn is the crazy end around we did with bond against florida that we have not done once since then (presumably because bond has not been able to run it).

I was talking about the misdirection screen plays. Quinn turns bask and throws back. Texas ran the double fake screen vs Georgia, which featured some spinning.

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sidis

sidis 10011

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Just now, Codaxx said:

I was talking about the misdirection screen plays. Quinn turns bask and throws back. Texas ran the double fake screen vs Georgia, which featured some spinning.

totally. that play gets blown up...a lot.

i was just saying the only slow developing play where quinn has to do dance moves in the backfield that i like was that crazy bond end around we did against go gata.

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Codaxx

Codaxx 6239

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Just now, sidis said:

totally. that play gets blown up...a lot.

i was just saying the only slow developing play where quinn has to do dance moves in the backfield that i like was that crazy bond end around we did against go gata.

Gotcha. Funny the traditional RB screen is working better. I guess defense have seen the "cool" shit so much on tape, that is what they are prepared for.

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TreatyOak

TreatyOak 17318

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Clemson YouTubers break down how Clemson wins this game;

Key takeaways:

  • Texas is terrible at running the football. They will easily shut down our run. (with one of the P5's worst run defenses, lol)
  • Don't be fooled by Texas motion - stay disciplined (as opposed to teams that prefer to play a completely disorganized, make-it-up on the fly strategy)
  • TJ Parker will easily have around 6 or 7 sacks, whomever he is
  • Texas has no film on Clemson's offensive replacement players so they should have big games (I have to admit that is an original take) 
  • Texas hasn't faced a QB who can run like Cade Klubnik and he will have a big game on designed runs 
  • Texas hasn't played a team as physical as Clemson so the refs need to LET THEM PLAY
  • Clemson has all the advantages and will win a close one

 

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