Steve Sarkisian explains how first-half benching vs. Georgia 'sparked' Quinn Ewers

Along with handing Texas it’s lone loss of the regular season in Austin in October, Georgia and it’s defense swarmed Longhorns quarterback Quinn Ewers to the point head coach Steve Sarkisian briefly benched him before half.

Reflecting on that decision days before a rematch with Georgia in Atlanta for the SEC championship, Sarkisian believes it helped his quarterback in the moment by getting him re-centered and ready for the second half. And at large, he hopes it has or will spark some new edge to Ewers.

“I wish we would’ve played a little better around him. I wish we would’ve coached a little better around him but I thought he competed at a high level in the second half of that game,” Sarkisian said on a call with reporters on Thursday. “So, sometimes that’s part of the job. That’s why they call us coach. You’ve gotta make some of those tough calls sometimes. But in the end I do believe when Quinn, whether it was that night or the next week, tonight, two years from now, there will be a moment that’ll come to him that he’s going to be like, ‘I’m glad coach did that. And it made me get re-centered.’ The ability to respond to that adversity is one that I think has always been a trademark of Quinn’s.

“He’s dealt with injury. He’s dealt with some play that wasn’t his best early in his career. He’s dealt with people always wanting, expecting more of him. But every time he responds, I mean the guy is a steady sea. He just won’t get rattled. And so, in that moment, again, I didn’t think that was going to rattle him any more.”

Ewers struggled in the first 30 minutes against the Bulldogs as Texas got shutout, 23-0, going into the break. Ewers threw an interception and also fell victim to a sack fumble. He was replaced by backup Arch Manning, who also was sacked and fumbled, for the final two drives of the half.

But afterwards, Ewers returned to the lineup and led a pair of third quarter touchdown drives to bring the longhorns within a score — and as close as they would get for the rest of the night.

Now, though, the move could pay off in the longterm, should Texas win on Saturday.

“My goal and my hope was that if anything, it would’ve sparked him, the competitor in him to play even more charged than he had been and I think it worked,” Sarkisian said. “And so you’re just always trying to push the right buttons in players. And again, ton of respect for Quinn and the job that he’s done for us not only this season, but for three years and for him to, back-to-back seasons, get us back to a conference championship and more than likely an opportunity to play in the College Football Playoffs, I think, is a tremendous honor. And he deserves that. He’s been a great teammate and a great leader on this team.”