Longhorns QB Quinn Ewers Looking For Consistency vs. Baylor
Quinn Ewers would be the first to admit his performance Saturday wasn't up to par. No one in the Texas locker room would likely disagree, either.
Fresh off a 349-yard, three-touchdown performance against then-No. 3. Alabama, Ewers struggled to find a connection in the first half against Wyoming. Those same mishaps that were on display against Rice in Week 1 returned against the Cowboys in Week 3.
Longhorns coach Steve Sarkisian knows Ewers is better than his performance in a 31-10 win, and he expects better results when the team takes the field at McLane Stadium against Baylor for the final time as members of Big 12.
“I think just every aspect of the passing game needs to improve,” Sarkisian said Monday during his weekly recap presser. “It just felt like we weren’t as sharp. We had a protection breakdown in there, didn’t have the best play calls predicated on what the coverages were. I think Quinn could’ve probably made a couple of throws that he usually makes.”
A win is a win. No one in Austin will gripe too much over a fourth-quarter surge that saw the No. 3 Longhorns (3-0, 0-0 Big 12) score 21 unanswered points.
The problem, however, has been the consistent inconsistencies from Ewers when attacking deep. Against Alabama, he connected on four passes of over 20-plus yards downfield. Against Wyoming, he was 0-for-3.
Ewers did enough to get by, completing 11-of-21 passes for 131 yards and two touchdowns. One of those scores came on the elusiveness of Xavier Worthy, who turned a quick screen pass into a 44-yard race to the pylon. The other, a 1-yard floater to Byron Murphy, was a mismatch at the line of scrimmage.
How many cornerbacks can tackle a 310-pound defensive tackle coming out of the backfield? How many safeties or linebackers could make the play for that matter?
“Just lack of focus is what it kind of boils down to, and the need to settle in faster than what I did in the game,” Ewers said of his outing.
Sarkisian praised Ewers for keeping the ball away from the Cowboys' defense. Ewers, who last season threw six interceptions, has yet to turn the ball over through three games. He's also completed 60.7 percent of his throws, a slight uptick from his first year on campus.
Still, two quick passes and over half of his yards coming after the catch won't win many games in conference play.
“Passing game wasn’t good enough,” Sarkisian said.
Ewers doesn't have to be a world-beater through the air against a struggling Baylor defense. In most games this season, he simply needs a rhythm when finding his targets.
Few programs have an arsenal headlined by Worthy, AD Mitchell and Ja'Tavion Sanders at their disposal. Even fewer have significant depth players such as Isaiah Neyor, Jordan Whittington and Johntay Cook waiting to take the field.
Faith hasn't been lost in the locker room among players that Ewers isn't the guy. They know when he's hot, the offense is scorching and is always a threat to put up points.
For Ewers, it's about being consistent as conference play begins. Sarkisian hasn't doubted his starter up to this point.
He's just looking for consistency.
“He’s been in some big-time environments and has performed at the highest level in those environments,” Sarkisian said. “And maybe in some other ones, not so hot. But I think he’s learned from those, and so I trust in Quinn. This guy is more than capable of having a big-time season for us.”
