Analyzing Longhorns QB Quinn Ewers’ Performance vs. Baylor
This past Saturday, the Texas Longhorns took down the Baylor Bears in Waco by a score of 38-6. One of the biggest bright spots of the game was the veteran-like play of sophomore quarterback Quinn Ewers.
Steve Sarkisian did a good job early in the game settling Ewers in with short rhythm throws to boost his confidence early and open up the intermediate game. This was evident on Texas’s first drive, when Quinn's first three completions were thrown behind the line of scrimmage, including a key 12-yard pickup on thirds down to Jt Sanders.
On the next drive, Ewers came out swinging, completing a 15-yard pass over the middle to Xavier Worthy on the first play. This was the kind of throw Quinn was missing vs. Wyoming, so it was promising to see him improving on these intermediate throws. This led to a 40-yard Jonathan Brooks touchdown run on the game's next play.
Ewers started the next drive the same way, with a 17-yard over-the-middle pickup, this time to AD Mitchell. His first incompletion of the night came on a third down when the ball was batted down at the line of scrimmage. He completed his first six attempts and had no incompletions in the first quarter. This is an improvement from the first three weeks when the Texas offense came out of the gate slow.
After taking a first down sack, Ewers came back strong with a completion to Mitchell underneath, which he turned upfield for a 20-yard gain and a first down. He then followed that with two 10-yard pickups to Jordan Whittington and JT Sanders.
Quinn Ewers vs. Baylor
USA Today Sports
The only miss on the drive was a screen pass that was almost picked off by a Baylor defender, but it ended up being batted down instead. The highlight of Ewers' night though, came the next play when he avoided pressure, and scampered 29 yards to the end zone.
After missing Sanders over the top, Ewers hit Gunnar Helm for 15 yards and a first down. He then found Jonathan Brooks out of the backfield for a 20-yard gain, putting Texas inside the 10. Brooks would run in a touchdown after a pass interference call on Baylor.
To start the second half, Ewers threw a pass over the middle to Sanders, which he caught with one hand and ran all the way down to the Baylor 20 for a 50-yard pickup. He then missed an end zone shot on third down, but Texas got a field goal to start the half.
His best throw of the night came on the next drive when he dropped a 50-yard bomb into the arms of Johntay Cook. Ewers has really stepped up on the deep ball lately after going 0-7 versus Rice. He will need to stay consistent on these passes if Texas wants to keep rolling through conference play.
After completing a few more short passes, Ewers finished the day with a stat line of 18-23, 293 yards, and two total touchdowns.
Perhaps the most important stat though, is that he hasn’t thrown an interception yet this season.
Texas plays a fast, undefeated Kansas team on Saturday, and Ewers will need to stay sharp for the Horns to take care of business.
