Analyzing Texas Longhorns QB Quinn Ewers' Performance vs. Kansas

Texas Longhorns QB Quinn Ewers was extremely productive against Kansas last week. Can he repeat that performance against the Oklahoma Sooners.

Texas Longhorns quarterback Quinn Ewers had a strong outing versus Kansas on Saturday. Let’s break down his game before the Longhorns take on the Oklahoma Sooners this weekend.

Ewers’ first pass of the day came on a quick play-action pass over the middle to AD Mitchell. He followed that up with a 14-yard pass to Mitchell again. Ewers’ hot start continued, hitting Mitchell a third time in a row for a gain of 18.

To end the drive, Ewers ran in a score on third down from thirty yards out. His weight loss during the offseason has allowed him to become much more mobile this season, and he leads Texas in rushing touchdowns.

He started the next drive with a 30-yard screen pass to Jonathan Brooks, staying in rhythm. Texas coach Steve Sarkisian did a great job early in the game of settling Ewers into the game before starting to take shots.

He followed that up with a 17-yard completion to a wide open Xavier Worthy to the outside. His first incompletion came on the next pass when he threw the ball a little high for Mitchell.

After a third down pickup to Jordan Whittington and a 10-yard pickup to JT Sanders, he missed Whittington in the end zone, throwing over his head on a wheel route. Texas ended the drive with a field goal. Texas’s next drive also ended in a field goal, making it 13-7.

Ewers’ first interception of the season came on the next drive to close the half. Texas was driving looking to put up points right before halftime, but Ewers threw a pass over the middle, which was picked by a Kansas defender. He previously had the second-longest streak in school history without throwing an interception.

Quinn Ewers runs for a big gain vs. Kansas / © Jay Janner, Austin American-Statesman

His first pass of the second half was a deep shot to Mitchell, but the defender made a good play and it fell incomplete. On third down, Quinn scrambled up the middle and made a nice play for the first down. Jonathan Brooks would cap off the drive with a 54-yard touchdown run.

After a Kansas touchdown, the next drive saw a big 26-yard pass from Ewers to Johntay Cook, and another 14-yard pickup to Mitchell, but the Longhorns would ultimately come up empty when kicker Bert Auburn missed a field goal.

The next big play from Ewers was a 31-yard pass to Worthy on a deep sit route, which Worthy took upfield into Kansas territory. He then found Worthy again for an 11-yard gain for a first down to continue the drive. Ewers ended the drive with a nice touchdown pass to Mitchell in the corner of the end zone, where Mitchell made a great play keeping his feet in bounds.

On the next drive, Quinn did a good job spreading around the ball, going 4-of-6 with completions to CJ Baxter, Mitchell, Whittington, and Worthy. He then capped the drive with a one-yard touchdown run where he faked out the entire Kansas defense, and bootlegged out to the corner of the end zone.

Ewers’ final stat line was 25 of 35 for 325 yards, three total touchdowns, and one interception. Though it was a good day for Ewers, he will need to step up again this week in Dallas vs. Oklahoma. It will be key for the Horns’ offense to keep spreading the ball around to their playmakers, and to not turn the ball over.

If Ewers puts up another performance like he did last year versus the Sooners, we could see some good things from the Longhorns on Saturday.