Two weeks ago against the Oklahoma Sooners, Texas Longhorns quarterback Quinn Ewers struggled early. Last week against the Georgia Bulldogs, he got benched.
The struggles were concerning enough, that conversation surrounding his grasp over the job had been a major story point across the country.
But in the Longhorns’ 27-24 win over Vanderbilt on Saturday, Ewers was the best version of himself, and he proved the doubters wrong.
Of course, the game didn’t get off to the best start, with a tipped pass getting intercepted on the Longhorns’ opening drive, leading to a Vanderbilt touchdown.
After that, however, Ewers looked like a superstar, completing his next 17 passes in a row for 211 yards and three touchdowns, and giving the Longhorns a commanding 21-10 lead at halftime.
Oh, and he was able to do all of that without his No. 1 receiver target Isaiah Bond, who missed the game due to injury.
That is not to say Ewers was perfect, either.
He threw another interception in the second half and completed 8 of 16 passes for 77 yards and no scores in the second half.
“I don’t fault him for those things,” Texas coach Steve Sarkisian said.
That said, the vast majority of his inefficiencies in the second half were due to an overwhelming amount of pressure allowed by the offensive line. Ewers was sacked a total of four times, hit many more times, and pressured throughout the entire second half.
But in the game’s biggest moments, he still showed up, hitting one of his most impressive throws of the day on a 24-yard dot while under pressure to convert a third and 20 and bleed some much-needed time off of the clock.
Was it the kind of Heisman Trophy performance that many expected out of him coming out the Michigan game and before his injury in September? No.
Was it enough to silence the doubters and prove that he is without question the right player to have under center for the remainder of the Longhorns’ season?
The answer there is a resounding yes.
Sure, the Longhorns would have loved to turn their three forced turnovers into three touchdowns, and blowout the Commodores to send a message.
But issues with the offensive line – including multiple drive-killing penalties – made that very difficult.
That also does not take away from the way Ewers was able to lead the Longhorns offense and face the pressures from a much improved Vanderbilt team which already has a win over a No. 1 ranked Alabama this season.
Now, Ewers and the Longhorns get a bye week to fix the offensive line, and get healthy at receiver.
If they can do those things during their week off, when they take the field against the Florida Gators in Austin on Nov. 9 in Austin, Ewers should be able to play at an even higher level.
And the Longhorns will have every chance to go where they want to go this post season.
“If he plays like that the rest of the year, we are going to be okay,” Sarkisian said.
