Quinn Ewers reflects on what he learned from CFP Semifinal loss against Washington

Texas Longhorns quarterback Quinn Ewers recently chatted with Robert Griffin III, the Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback for the Baylor Bears, on his podcast RG3 and The Ones. In the interview, Ewers talked about his past, present, and future, from his time at Ohio State to where Texas envisions itself at the end of this season.

There was a moment during the conversation where Griffin got the thoughts of the Longhorns star quarterback on last year’s defeat in the College Football Playoff semifinal at the hands of the Washington Huskies. According to Ewers, he can utilize a quote from his head coach, Steve Sarkisian, to help him look past the 37-31 defeat.

“You go through ups and downs through all the games,” Ewers said. “Coach Sark has a good analogy — it’s why the windshield is so big and the rearview mirror is so small. And going through games, it’s hard. I mean, I didn’t start out how I wanted to; we went three-and-out with a false start on the first drive. And that’s just a terrible start. I just have to learn how to flush those; that’s the biggest thing for me, continuing on to this year, flushing those bad plays and bad drives and continuing to work the game plan.”

A narrow loss like that would be difficult to overcome. In Ewers’ case, it might be slightly more difficult, given his slow start. With Texas going three and out on its first drive and Washington scoring in four plays on their opening drive, it forced the Longhorns to play from behind the entirety of the game.

Texas’s loss to Washington is in the past now. So what do Ewers and company look forward to in the future? According to the Longhorns quarterback they have their sights on the national championship but also capturing the SEC crown in their inaugural season in the conference.

“We take it one day at a time,” said Ewers. “But we’re all human, and we understand what we want to accomplish. We’ve kind of set our minds on obviously the SEC championship, but also, January 20 — the national championship game. So that’s what we want, and that’s what we are gonna hold ourselves to; I know we’re all excited to get to the SEC.”

Texas will kick off its 2024 season on August 31 with a home matchup against Colorado State. From there, it will play three more non-conference games, including a Week 2 trip to Ann Arbor, MI, to face the defending national champion Wolverines in what will likely be a top-10 showdown with huge College Football Playoff implications.

If Ewers wishes to lead Texas to the SEC championship, a berth in the College Football Playoff, and a national championship finish this season, then the analogy he picked up from Sarkisian could play a huge role in their success. Simply put, it is better for Ewers and the Longhorns to focus on the big picture ahead of them than what is behind them on their quest to become kings of the college football world in 2024.