Quinn Ewers Silences Skeptics With Clutch Peach Bowl Performance

The Texas Longhorns' star quarterback played like it in a College Football Playoff thriller.

Jon Alfano | Jan 1, 2025

Jan 1, 2025; Atlanta, GA, USA; Texas Longhorns quarterback Quinn Ewers (3) passes the ball against the Arizona State Sun Devils during the first half of the Peach Bowl at Mercedes-Benz Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Brett Davis-Imagn Images / Brett Davis-Imagn Images

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Texas Longhorns quarterback Quinn Ewers has been the subject of heavy criticism this season, and even though he tends to play it cool, there's little doubt he's heard the outside noise.

That criticism is not entirely without merit, to be fair. Ewers, who's played through injury for much of the season, has had some questionable turnovers, particularly in the Longhorns' two losses against the Georgia Bulldogs. Some even called for the Longhorns to start Arch Manning in the College Football Playoff, even though that was completely unrealistic.

None of that mattered in Wednesday's College Football Playoff quarterfinal game against the Arizona State Sun Devils, however. In a double-overtime thriller, Ewers completed 20 of 30 passes for 322 yards, four total touchdowns (three passing, one rushing) and an interception to lead Texas to a 39-31 victory.

"Well, I think just first off, that's just a testament to how mature this team is and just taking advantage of every single opportunity that we have, whether it be fourth and 15 or first and 10, whatever the situation is, just taking full advantage of the opportunity that's thrown our way," Ewers said after the game. And just so proud of the way that the entire team stayed poised and composed through the entire game, especially through overtime. And it definitely feels a lot better to be on this end of the win in overtime at the same spot for sure."

The stat line is impressive enough, but what really made Ewers' performance special is the fact that three of those touchdowns came in the fourth quarter and overtime, when the Longhorns needed him most.

First, Ewers' rushing touchdown came with just over 10 minutes remaining in regulation and put the Longhorns up 24-8. The 5-yard scramble was just Ewers' second rushing touchdown of the season, and it came at the perfect time.

Party in the endzone 🤘#HookEm | #CFBPlayoff pic.twitter.com/SUPGMovWo3
— Texas Football (@TexasFootball) January 1, 2025

The Sun Devils did not go down quietly, though, scoring 16 unanswered points to force overtime. They then scored first in overtime and forced a 4th and 13 on the Longhorns' ensuing drive to put them in a do-or-die situation. Ewers handled it perfectly, though, standing tall in the face of an all-out blitz to find an open Matthew Golden for the game-tying score.

EWERS ➡️ GOLDEN 🎯#HookEm | #CFBPlayoff pic.twitter.com/U7BL8Z5gzl
— Texas Football (@TexasFootball) January 1, 2025

Texas' offensive linemen did a great job blocking, but before the play, Ewers saw the pressure coming and checked into a max-protection look. It worked so flawlessly that even the Sun Devils couldn't help but be impressed.

"We're in a Cover 0 look. Late in the play clock, Ewers did a phenomenal job checking out, recognizing the Cover 0 look, checking into a max-pro, and I didn't have the ability to get out of it, and that's on me," Arizona State head coach Kenny Dillingham. "So, we left our guys ISOed [isolated] and Covered 0 into a max-pro there."

Just after that, Ewers found standout tight end Gunnar Helm on the first play of the second overtime for a 25-yard go-ahead touchdown. A two-point conversion and a defensive stand later, and the Longhorns could finally breathe easily, in large part thanks to Ewers' performance.

THE TD AND THE 2-POINT 🤘‼️#HookEm | #CFBPlayoff pic.twitter.com/PHho4z2JLW
— Texas Football (@TexasFootball) January 1, 2025

Was Ewers perfect? No, especially with that interception leading directly to Arizona State's game-tying touchdown in the fourth quarter.

Without his late heroics, though, it's highly likely that the Longhorns lose this game, and that makes it one of the best performances in his standout career in Austin.

"Quinn's a G, man. He is," Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian said. "Like I know he doesn't always exude that, like in his body language and his demeanor because I say it about him about this all the time, like he's a steady C. He never gets really high. There's flashes of that emotion. He never gets too low."