Steve Sarkisian praises Quinn Ewers for first half in Big 12 Championship Game

Texas put together an impressive first half in Saturday’s Big 12 Championship Game against Oklahoma State. The Longhorns went to halftime with a 35-14 lead, thanks in large part to star quarterback Quinn Ewers.

The sophomore was nearly perfect in the first half, completing 23 of 31 passes for 354 yards and four touchdowns.

Longhorns head coach Steve Sarkisian spoke with ESPN at halftime about the performance from Ewers in the first half.

“I think we’re giving him good protection and he’s seeing the field pretty well and guys are making plays for him down the field,” Sarkisian said.

As Sarkisian pointed out, Ewers certainly had plenty of guys step up and make plays around him in the first 30 minutes.

Quinn Ewers connected with nine different receivers in the first half, and seven of the nine had multiple catches. Ja’Tavion Sanders led the way with four catches for 68 yards and a touchdown. Jordan Whittington added four catches for 48 yards, while AD Mitchell hauled in three catches for 78 yards and a score.

Running back Jaydon Blue and even star defensive lineman T’Vondre Sweat caught touchdowns for Texas in the first half.

While it was mostly all positive news for the Longhorns, Texas did make a mistake near the end of the first half. The Longhorns considered kicking a field goal on fourth-and-five on their final drive of the half, before Sarkisian opted to put the offense back on the field.

That decision allowed Oklahoma State to sub, and when the Cowboys did, it resulted in Texas getting a delay of game penalty. Bert Auburn then missed from 44 yards out to keep Texas from having an even bigger lead. Sarkisian took full responsibility for the blunder at the end of the half.

“Total coaches error. That’s all on me. I screwed that up,” he said.

Pete Thamel addresses if Quinn Ewers will return to Texas in 2024

Quinn Ewers is impressing late this season and could end up carrying that momentum over into 2024.

Ewers is a potential first-round pick in the 2024 NFL Draft. However, it sounds as if the redshirt sophomore might not be ready for his college football career to be over at the conclusion of this season.

ESPN’s Pete Thamel addressed Ewers’ future on ESPN College GameDay Saturday morning and shared that Ewers appears to be leaning towards returning to Texas for another year.

“Sources have told me that the chances of Quinn Ewers returning to Texas for the 2024 season have increased exponentially in recent weeks,” Thamel said. “Ewers is only 20 years old. He’s a redshirt sophomore. And today will mark his 21^st career start. There’s a burgeoning feeling in Ewers’ camp that an extra year of development would help his long-term success. NFL evaluators use 25 career starts as a line of demarcation for success.”