Quinn Ewers didn’t use his right arm to make two vital plays that helped extend Texas‘ stay in the College Football Playoff on Saturday night.
Ewers’ most significant contribution to the Longhorns‘ 38-24 victory over Clemson at Royal-Memorial Stadium came from his mind.
At the 12-minute, 49-second mark of the second quarter, the Longhorns quarterback checked out of a passing play at the line of scrimmage, electing instead to hand the ball off to running back Jaydon Blue, who scampered 38 yards for a touchdown.
Ewers repeated his magic trick at the game’s most critical juncture. After Clemson scored 14 consecutive points to cut a 21-point Texas lead to seven with 10:48 to play, he called another audible. Again, he stuck the ball in the waiting hands of Blue, who burst through a gaping hole and exploded down the sideline for a 77-yard touchdown.
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“That’s having a three-year starter who’s been in your system and is very comfortable doing that type of stuff,” Texas coach Steve Sarkisian said.
Ewers’ tangible contributions this season have not met the bar set for him before the season — or even in the middle of the season, when Sarkisian expressed confidence that Ewers would revive his Heisman Trophy candidacy after missing time with an oblique injury.
His stat line Saturday looked unremarkable, with 202 passing yards and one touchdown. But Ewers’ split-second decisions at the line of scrimmage speak to the intangible contributions that he is uniquely qualified to make.
Nobody else on the roster owns three seasons’ worth of experience at quarterback in Sarkisian’s offense. Nobody else has started a College Football Playoff game under center. Nobody else can call upon the bank of knowledge required to adjust on the fly so successfully.
Yeah, it’s a great feeling,” Ewers said. “Any time you’re able to get the offense into the correct play call for certain looks. I think it’s just a testament to the coaches giving us those looks in practice and it being kind of easy to see and easy to be able to check.”
Postgame, Sarkisian went into detail on the decision Ewers made to create Blue’s first touchdown.
The Tigers lined up in a defensive look Sarkisian and Ewers had studied two days before the game. From that look, Sarkisian explained, the Clemson defense had two options. Ewers used a motion to suss out which defense the Tigers were in, then made his call.
“He motioned Juan Davis, then he checked it and got to the run,” Sarkisian said. “That’s just time together. Time on task, he and I, and him trusting that when we tell him certain things like that — that it might happen that way — him trusting it and then executing it.”
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The trust has proved to be mutual. Sarkisian has maintained a staunch public support for Ewers through underperformance, through injury, and through a wave of fans and media calling for his backup, Arch Manning, who possesses a demonstrably stronger arm and is blessed with demonstrably superior athleticism.
A quarterback’s job requires more than that, though. Smarts matter. Experience matters. We can’t measure it. We can’t always even see it. But Sarkisian can.
And he’s stuck with his guy.
CFP quarterfinals
No. 5 Texas (12-2) vs. No. 4 Arizona State (11-2), noon Jan. 1, Peach Bowl, ESPN. Other quarterfinals — No. 6 Penn State vs. No. 3 Boise State, 6:30 p.m. Dec 31, Fiesta Bowl, ESPN; No. 8 Ohio State vs. No. 1 Oregon, 4 p.m. Jan. 1, Rose Bowl, ESPN; No. 7 Notre Dame vs. No. 2 Georgia, 7:45 p.m. Jan. 1, Sugar Bowl, ESPN
Reach Texas Insider David Eckert via email at deckert@gannett.com. Follow the American-Statesman on Facebook and X for more. Your subscription makes work like this possible. Get access to all of our best content with this tremendous offer.
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