Steve Sarkisian praises maturity of Quinn Ewers to rebound vs. Vanderbilt, handle outside noise

Quinn Ewers was benched late in the first half against Georgia on Oct. 19 after passing for just 17 yards and turning the ball over twice over the course of Texas’ first six drives. Although he returned to action in the third quarter and dialed up a pair of touchdown passes, his comeback bid fell short.

What followed was a weird week, complete with a false, and since-deleted, report, which briefly surfaced on social media and declared that Ewers was sitting the rest of the 2024 season to prepare for the NFL Draft.

That momentary hoopla, along with conversation about the decision head coach Steve Sarkisian made to pull Ewers for redshirt freshman quarterback Arch Manning mid-game, created outside noise.

Ewers tuned it out and bounced back on the road against then-No. 25 Vanderbilt this past weekend. He also bounced back from in-game adversity, overcoming a pair of tipped-ball interceptions during a 27-24 victory.

After the first of those two interceptions, Ewers completed 17 passes in a row, including eight on a nine-play, 75-yard touchdown drive that matched Vanderbilt’s game-opening score.

Sarkisian was asked postgame if Ewers would have responded to that first interception — his second pass of the day — the same way two years ago when he was a first-time starter.

“I don’t know. I don’t think so,” Sarkisian said. “I think it’s just a real credit to him, even coming off of last week’s game. When doubt creeps into your mind, that’s a killer. And I didn’t think there was a sliver of doubt in his mind. It was bad luck. He made a great read. Ball got tipped, interception. He came right back out, believed in his preparation and in the plan and really executed at a very high level tonight.

“So I really want to credit him and his maturity, his belief in himself, his confidence. And I want to credit his teammates because I think all week those guys were making sure they were pumping him up and getting him ready to go.”

Also during his streak of 17 straight completions, Ewers threw two more touchdown passes: strikes of 27 and 25 yards to wide receiver DeAndre Moore Jr., one in the first quarter and the other in the second frame.

That flurry of three total Longhorns touchdowns gave them a 21-7 lead. Vanderbilt made it a one-score game in the third quarter, during which Ewers threw his second tipped-pass interception, and the Commodores once again capitalized on great field position with another touchdown.

But, following two series that ended in punts, Ewers took over at the Vandy 29-yard line. The Commodores had just turned the ball over on downs, and the redshirt junior quarterback oversaw a critical insurance scoring drive that featured a 14-yard completion to wideout Ryan Wingo.

That connection provided the Longhorns with a 3rd-and-manageable after a holding penalty, as well as a three-yard loss on 1st-and-20. Running back Jaydon Blue kept the drive going. It culminated in a chip-shot field goal that put Texas ahead 27-17 with 1:57 to go.

Ewers finished 27-of-37 for 288 yards, three touchdowns and two interceptions.

“I think he played really well. If he plays like that the rest of the year, we’re going to be OK, you know, we’re going to be just fine,” Sarkisian said.

Sarkisian said the key for Ewers keeping up that level of play is his belief in himself. Meanwhile, the Longhorns will continue to instill confidence in him.

“It can’t get worse than how it went for him last week [against Georgia], especially in that first half,” Sarkisian said postgame. “And his ability to bounce back and show that resolve that he showed — I always say that the sign of the true character of a man is in the face of adversity. That was a lot of adversity for him. It was a lot of adversity for us as a team coming off of last week’s game.

“And I think the way he responded was kind of indicative of how we responded as a team. So, like I said, if we can get that version of Quinn Ewers for the rest of the way, we’ll be OK.”