'It's His Team': Kirk Herbstreit Confident in 2023 Jump From Longhorns QB Quinn Ewers

College Football Analyst Kirk Herbstreit thinks Quinn Ewers is set for a big 2023

Matt Galatzan | Jun 1, 2023

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Texas Longhorns

After an up-and-down 2022, Texas Longhorns quarterback Quinn Ewers is garnering high expectations heading into the 2023 season. And as a result, so is his team, with the Longhorns widely projected as the Big 12 conference favorite next season.

And on Wednesday on On3's NIL Elite Series, college football analyst Kirk Herbstreit was the latest to display his confidence in Ewers, proclaiming the 2023 Longhorns as 'his team', and providing the reasoning behind his belief that the sophomore will take a jump.

“Talking and listening to Texas folks off the air, it sounded like it was pretty obvious that Quinn and experience — think about what he’s been through,” Herbstreit said. “He went to Ohio State essentially as a senior in high school. Ends up going back, transfers to Texas back home, deals with a lot of scrutiny, and what that does is it hardens you.

“When you become a hardened veteran, you become a different guy. Not to mention how he played last year, there were some ups but there were some downs. He had to endure that. What you see now, even though he’s only in his first year getting done, is a guy that’s been through it. I think it allows him to play at a different level of maturity. Arch has probably got a really bright future, but for me, right now it’s Quinn Ewers’ chance. It’s his opportunity. It’s his team.”

Ups and downs were certainly a prevalent theme in his 2022 campaign as well. In 10 games, Ewers completed 172 of 296 passes for 2,177 yards and 15 touchdowns with just six interceptions. At times, he looked like the best player on the field. At others, he looked lost.

However, to support Herbstreit's prediction, Ewers did seem to take a major step forward this spring in multiple ways. Whether it was his approach, his knowledge of the system, or his chemistry with the skilled position players, Ewers looks to be leaps and bounds ahead of where he was in 2022.

Not to mention, he now has arguably the best group of pass catchers to throw the ball to in the entire country.

Of course, his potential going forward will become much more clear after the Longhorns' trip to Tuscaloosa to take on Alabama in Week 2.

And if Ewers can pull off a win there, the sky could be the limit.

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Published Jun 1, 2023

MATT GALATZAN

Matt Galatzan is the Managing Editor and Publisher of Texas Longhorns On SI and Texas A&M Aggies On SI and a long-time member of the Football Writer’s Association of America. He graduated from the University of Mississippi, where he studied integrated marketing communications, with minors in journalism and business administration. Galatzan started in the sports journalism industry in 2014 covering the Dallas Mavericks and SMU Mustangs with 247Sports. He then moved to Sports Illustrated's Fan Nation network in 2020, eventually being taking over as the Managing Editor and Publisher of the Longhorns and Aggies sites a year later. You can find Galatzan on all major social media channels, including Twitter on @MattGalatzan.