Steve Sarkisian closes spring with temperature check on Texas quarterback competition

Steve Sarkisian shed some light on the most important decision he’ll be making prior to the beginning of the 2022 season — the Texas starting quarterback competition. After the Orange-White spring game, Sarkisian closed the spring with a temperature check on when the world will know who’s the starting quarterback for the Longhorns — the incumbent Hudson Card, or star Ohio State transfer Quinn Ewers.

“I think it’s going to go, I think to be fair to both those guys. I mean, you probably saw tonight, both guys really had some flash plays. Some really cool plays of them, whether it’s throwing down the field, orchestrating drives in the red area,” stated Sarkisian. “And we saw some plays that I think both guys would love to have back. But that’s part of the position. Sometimes you can’t control some of the other things going on around you. But I like where these guys are at.

“If I could’ve said that they would play this good after 15 practices this spring, or if one of them would have, I’d be ecstatic. I’m really happy with the growth where they’re at, I think we’re at a really good spot in that position. Now, we have to continue to grow. We can’t settle. We’ve got to take these guys to new heights. And we’ve got to get Maalik [Murphy] going, and get Maalik, kind of, you know, getting him healthy, and this summers going to be big for him, to put himself in position for fall camp, as well.”

Evidently, Steve Sarkisian is going to take his time in naming the Longhorns starting quarterback, much like he did last season. Still, that won’t stop the football world from theorizing who will be under center when the Longhorns take the field in 2022.

Steve Sarkisian gives blunt assessment of Quinn Ewers play in spring game

Furthermore, one of the biggest storylines of the Texas Orange-White spring game Saturday night was the aforementioned quarterback competition. Quinn Ewers and Hudson Card are competing for the starting job, and both were in action on Saturday night at Memorial Stadium.

During the event, Steve Sarkisian spoke with the Longhorn Network about both quarterbacks’ performances, particularly Ewers’ first few sequences. He threw a beautiful 60-yard touchdown pass, but then proceeded to throw an interception.

“I thought so far, up until the last throw, they were making good decisions, throwing the ball where it needed to go,” Sarkisian said. “I thought Quinn might have forced one there, but that’s part of the growing pains. He made a great throw on the touchdown, then comes back and throws a pick. So we’ve just got to keep working through it.”

Texas didn’t keep score for the game, but Sarkisian said he liked what he saw from the offense early on. He also pointed out the defense needs to tighten up a bit, but getting Ewers to throw an interception was a good sign.

“I think the first offense is moving the ball really well,” Sarkisian said. “[It has] been effective, created some explosive plays. … I thought the first drive of the first defense, we were a little shaky. Then they settled in the last two drives and obviously created a turnover, that was big.”

Landing Quinn Ewers was a major transfer portal victory for Sarkisian this offseason. Ewers initially committed to Texas out of high school, but re-classified to the Class of 2021 to enroll at Ohio State. After playing just a few snaps for the Buckeyes — without throwing a pass — he went back home to Texas. Once he hit the portal, he became the No. 6 transfer on the open market, according to the On3 Transfer Portal Rankings.