HOOKEM’ HORNS:
With their redshirt sophomore quarterback, Quinn Ewers, leading the charge, the Texas Longhorns are putting together a historic 2023 season. In the Big 12 championship game this past Saturday (December 2nd), Ewers and the Longhorns took their 2023 campaign to the next level. On his way to taking down the Oklahoma State Cowboys, Quinn Ewers threw four touchdown passes before halftime. Texas went on to win at a final score of 49-21, crowning the Longhorns Big 12 champions.
Between 1996 and 2009, Texas was one of the top teams in the Big 12 conference and won 3 titles. However, since 2010 they haven't been the same. That was until Quinn Ewers decided to do something about it. Ewers’ fantastic season wasn’t just enough to win the Big 12, it also earned Texas their first College Football Playoffs appearance (the current playoffs have only been around since 2014). Now the question remains, can Quinn Ewers finish the job and get the Longhorns a National Championship?
QUINN EWERS’ BACKGROUND:
Carroll Senior High School’s 5-star quarterback, Quinn Ewers was one of the top quarterback recruits in the country. Ewers committed to Ohio State and signed a massive NIL deal worth 1.4 million dollars at age 18. In Ewers’ first year at Ohio State, he backed up the current ROY front-runner, CJ Stroud. When Stroud declared his intention to come back for another season of college ball, Ewers lost his patience and entered the transfer portal, despite his large NIL deal.
Due to his lack of maturity, the Texas coaching staff was reluctant to give Ewers the keys to their offense. Therefore, in Quinn’s first season as a Longhorn, he split reps with Hudson Card. The offense had a weird dynamic and didn’t get the most out of either quarterback. After the season, for the good of both signal callers, Card transferred to Purdue where he got 100% of the playing time in 2023.
With Ewers now the full-time starting quarterback, it was originally thought that there would be less pressure on him in his second season in Texas. Nevertheless, Texas made sure it wouldn’t be so by bringing in two young quarterbacks to chase Ewers. The first was Maalik Murphy, and the second was a kid from New Orleans with a familiar last name, Arch Manning. Ewers’ 2023 had to be perfect, or else he would be replaced.
THE LONGHORNS’ BACKGROUND:
2021 was a rough year for the Texas Longhorns. The 3-time Big 12 champs were a great program with a rich history and accustom to success. But that wasn’t the case in 2021, as they went 5-7, finished the season unranked, and without bowl eligibility.
Only a single season after becoming the head of the program, head coach Steve Sarkisian knew that his job was on the line. Out of desperation to return his program to its successful ways, Sarkisian reached deep into the transfer portal and brought in a quarterback who was once one of the most highly regarded recruits. This quarterback is Quinn Ewers, of course. During Ewers’ recruiting process, Sarkisian was Nick Saban’s offensive coordinator at Alabama. Sarkisian and Saban did look at Ewers but Saban decided that between his loud personality and his “jock” like mullet hairstyle, Ewers’ character wasn’t what he wanted in a Crimson Tide quarterback. Yet, years later, out of desperation, Sarkisian went back to Ewers.
THE 2023 SEASON:
Already in the Longhorns’ week 1 matchup with the Rice Owls, Quinn Ewers showed us two signs that he was ready for the job. The first was his new, more mature/normal hairstyle. The second was throwing for 260 yards and scoring 4 touchdowns.
The next week Ewers faced a tougher test, as Texas took on Nick Saban and his Alabama powerhouse. Verse Alabama, Quinn Ewers answered the bell in fashion. Ewers threw for 349 yards and 3 touchdowns as the Longhorns took down the Crimson Tide 34-24. Ewers continued to shine through the next three games as Texas blew out Wyoming, Baylor, and Kansas by at least 21 points, each.
In week 6, Ewers and the Longhorns faced another challenge, in the 5W-0L Oklahoma Sooners. Two teams entered the game undefeated, but only one would leave undefeated. Ewers played his heart out as he threw for 346 yards, but was just sloppy enough for his two interceptions to cost Texas the game. The Longhorns lost 34-30, making their Big 12 championship homes dim, and their playoff hopes even dimmer.
The next week the Longhorns bounced back as they took down the Houston Cougars, but it came at the expense of Quinn Ewers going down with an injury to his throwing shoulder. In week 8, Maalik Murphy was able to take care of business thanks to the Texas defense holding BYU to 6 points. The following week wasn’t as clean, but the Longhorns were able to squeeze by Kansas State in a 3-point game. Following the K-State game, Ewers was cleared to return to action.
In his very first game back from injury, Ewers eclipsed 300 yards yet again. It was a tight game but Texas was able to chew just enough clock to hold off TCU and get a 29-26 win, to move to 9W-1L. The Longhorns followed that up with a more comfortable 26-16 win over Iowa State to set up a crucial matchup against in-state rival Texas Tech, in the last game of the regular season. In said game Ewers didn’t even do much. The rest of the Longhorns’ roster popped off. Texas took down Texas Tech by an astonishing score of 57-7, clinching a Big 12 championship appearance.
2023 BOWL SEASON:
Quinn Ewers and the Texas offense started the title game red-hot. Ewers completed his first 11 passes of the game, as they cut through the Oklahoma State defense like butter for 35 points in the first half. The second half wasn’t even competitive. However, Sarkisian made the mistake of leaving his stars in the game, and in the fourth quarter, Xavier Worthy went down with an ankle injury. The team’s top receiver was rushed to the locker room and only minutes later was seen on the sidelines with crutches and street clothes.
Texas made a statement in their 49-21 title game victory, and even though Michigan, FSU, Washington, and Georgia were all undefeated, the playoff selection committee was going to have to think long and hard before ruling the Longhorns out. Fortunately, Alabama took down the undefeated Georgia Bulldogs in the SEC championship. Between Alabama beating Georgia and Texas beating Alabama it was impossible to pick only one of the teams. Meanwhile, FSU lost their star Quarterback Jordan Travis to a season-ending leg injury, raising question marks around their legitimacy moving forward. On Sunday, December 3rd, the playoff selection committee pulled the trigger. They ranked Michigan and Washington 1 and 2, and made Texas and Alabama 3 and 4, leaving out the undefeated Florida State. Ewers and the Longhorns have done it! Texas is in! Now can they finish the job?
After the Longhorns’ win over Oklahoma State, Sarkisian came out and said that Xavier Worthy’s X-rays were all negative and he should be fine, but I’m skeptical. Very rarely do we see an injured player be taken directly into the locker room without previous examination, and even more rarely do we see a player come back out so quickly without the intention of returning to the game. Sarkisian’s announcement might’ve been a smoke screen. Worthy’s availability will be a key factor in the Longhorns’ Sugar Bowl matchup against the 13W-0L Washington Huskies. Led by one of the top quarterbacks in the nation, Michael Penix Jr, Washington put up 37.7 points per game on their way to claiming a PAC 12 title. If Ewers and Texas are going to be able to keep up with Penix and his high-powered offense, they’re going to need their best pass-catcher on the field. Not only does Worthy provide great explosiveness, but he also takes the defense's attention away from his peers.
In the big picture, in my opinion, the winner of the Sugar Bowl will win it all. Texas has already beaten Alabama (by multiple scores) this season. Meanwhile, Michigan has only played three ranked (top-25) opponents this season. Not only did Michigan play ten unranked teams, but they also barely beat a few none top tier teams. Two great examples are their 31-24 victory over Maryland and their 24-15 win over Penn State. In conclusion, I believe that Worthy’s health is going to be the deciding factor. If he is healthy, as Sarkisian claimed, the Horns might just win the “Natty”! Hookem’ Horns!
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