Sark: Ewers bounce-back revealed ‘real character’

• Chris Low, ESPN Senior WriterOct 26, 2024, 11:20 PM ET Close College football press reporter Joined
• ESPN.com in 2007
• Graduate of the University of Tennessee

NASHVILLE, Tenn.– Quinn Ewers settled into the sort of rhythm his Texas coaches and colleagues are accustomed to Saturday night in a hard-fought 27-24 win over Vanderbilt.And he did so on the heels of among Ewers’ more forgettable weeks on the Forty Acres. Not only did he get benched in the first half of Texas’30-15 home loss to Georgia, but an incorrect report surfaced on social networks that Ewers was opting out for the remainder of the season and preparing for the NFL draft. “If he plays like that for the rest of the year,

we’re going to be okay. We’re going to be simply fine, “Texas coach Steve Sarkisian stated of Ewers, who finished 17 straight passes at one point and ended up with 228 passing backyards, 3 touchdowns and 2 interceptions.Editor’s Picks Both of those interceptions came on tipped passes, the first one resulting in a Vanderbilt touchdown offering the Commodores a 7-0 lead in the first quarter.But after that, Ewers led the Longhorns on 3 scoring drives, all ending in goal passes, the last 2 to DeAndre Moore Jr. “It was normal for us. We had a really excellent week of practice, so that’s what I anticipated, “Moore said.So did Sarkisian, who said Ewers’durability has been on screen all season returning to him missing parts of 3 games with an oblique injury. The very first half last week versus Georgia was a catastrophe for everyone on the Texas sideline. After the Bulldogs increased 20-0 in the very first half, Sarkisian replaced Ewers with Arch Manning, although Ewers returned in the second half.”You can’t get worse than how it opted for [Ewers] recently, especially in that very first half, and after that his capability to bounce back and reveal the willpower that he showed,”Sarkisian said.”I always say that the indication of the true character of a male is in the face of hardship, and that was a lot of hardship for him, a lot of adversity for us as a group coming off last week’s game. “I think the way he reacted was type of indicative of how we responded as a group.” Texas(7-1, 3-1)wasn’t able to put away No. 25 Vanderbilt up until Moore recovered an onside kick with 44 seconds to play. The Commodores entered the contest ranked in the AP poll for the first

time considering that the end of the 2013 season. “These weeks are not easy when you get so emotionally invested into a game like you were last week and then you don’t play your finest, “stated Sarkisian, whose Longhorns won their ninth straight roadway game going back to the 2022 season. “It’s tough. It is difficult on coaches. It’s tough on a group to rebound, and I think of the number of times have we seen a team lose a game like [Georgia] and after that they get beat again the next week since they’re still going through it. “I thought this game tonight was a culture win, a toughness win for us. … We knew it was going to take 60 minutes against this style of team. That was a great football group. They weren’t 25th in the nation on mishap.” Despite the fact that it was technically a roadway game for Texas, most of FirstBank Stadium was dressed up in charred orange, as the Longhorns’ fans came down on Nashville for the very first conference in between the groups given that 1928 and Texas

‘very first SEC roadway contest.The start to the game wasn’t what Ewers or anybody on Texas’group desired. On the game’s first possession, Ewers had a pass batted by Vanderbilt linebacker Langston Patterson and intercepted by cornerback Martel Hight at the Texas 31.

5 plays later on, Vanderbilt quarterback Diego Pavia ran around best end for an 18-yard goal.”There were no’bad me’s going on,”Ewers said.”We simply kept playing.”Sarkisian isn’t sure that Ewers would have reacted with such grace 2 years ago after such an unstable start.”It’s just a real credit to him, even coming off of recently’s game, where when doubt sneaks into your mind, that’s a killer,”Sarkisian stated. “And I didn’t believe there was a sliver of doubt in his mind. It was a misfortune [on the batted pass] He made a great read, the ball got tipped and intercepted. He came right back out, thought in his preparation and the plan and truly executed at a really high level. “So I actually want to credit him and his maturity, his belief in himself, his confidence, and I want to credit his colleagues due to the fact that I believe all week those guys were making certain they were pumping him up and getting him all set to go.”Moore, who ended up with 6 catches for 97 yards, said his first touchdown catch came when Ewers audibled while Moore was in movement.” I’m like,’OK, it’s man [coverage] Let’s go get it. He called a slot fade and he put it up there and enabled me to go make a play,”stated Moore, adding that’s not the first time Ewers has actually changed the play mid-motion. “Yeah, he has the ability to do that, specifically in this offense. Quinn is the president, so if he sees an appearance that he might not like, he can alter it to something else just like that. “Ewers admitted he was “itching “to return out there in a game with his teammates after the Georgia loss last week.”I think the credit goes to everybody not getting down after a loss that we had, and we came out here and we played our brand name of football, particularly in the very first half, “Ewers said.The Longhorns harm themselves with charges in the 2nd half, and a second batted interception led

to the Commodores’ second goal in the second half to make it a 24-17 game.”We did a good task of simply continuing to play,”Ewers said.He also shook off the insaneness of Monday when 247Sports said its Instagram account was hacked with the made report that Ewers was shutting it down for the rest of the season at Texas coming

off the Georgia loss.”I indicate, it was pretty random. I didn’t actually know where they got that from or whether they got hacked or not. … It was definitely unusual, and there’s

very little else to say about it,”Ewers said.