Steve Sarkisian reveals growth goals for Quinn Ewers

Quinn Ewers walked into the Texas Football facilities with all the hype in the world, hoping to become the next great starting quarterback under Steve Sarkisian. Injuries derailed early parts of the season before coming back for an impressive Oklahoma performance.

From then on, there was a lot left to be desired from the former Five-Star Plus+ prospect. Ewers threw for under 2,000 yards, 14 touchdowns, and eight interceptions in nine games with a completion percentage sitting at 56.6%.

Most first-year starting quarterbacks experience struggles. Unless your name is Trevor Lawrence, freshmen take time to get their feet wet and settle into the college game. Success more times than not comes down the line.

Arguably the most important stretch of the quarterback development timeline is heading into Year Two. That’s where Ewers and head coach Steve Sarkisian sit at the moment, with a big offseason of work looming.

“I think at the end of the day our ability to be functional passing the ball, we have not been good enough growth-wise from a program perspective of our ability to throw the ball down the field,” said Sarkisian. “That takes time, that takes effort, that takes work.”

Xavier Worthy was the main receiver running down the field this season. More times than not, Ewers’ passes were just too long and falling incomplete. Games against Oklahoma State and TCU were the most frustrating points, dropping winnable games due to passing inconsistency.

Disconnect was not exclusive to Worthy though. Skill position players all around the field could never quite get in sync with Ewers consistently when healthy. Sarkisian needs things to change heading into 2023.

“Whether it’s Quinn, wideouts, tight ends, we’ve got to put in the work to make sure we’re growing in a positive direction to be the best program that we can be,” Sarkisian said.

Alongside Worthy, tight end Ja’Tavion Sanders will be a key player returning to Austin. Wide receiver reinforcements are on the way as well. Whether that’s Isaiah Neyor returning from injury, the NCAA transfer portal, or the 2023 recruiting class.

One position where Texas will be losing vital players is at running back. When Ewers was struggling, Sarkisian had been able to rely on Bijan Robinson and at times, Roschon Johnson. Both soon will be gone for the NFL Draft.

Texas will still have top options to replace the duo but nobody is quite like them. Putting a majority of the focus on throwing downfield is how Sarkisian will see the Longhorns’ offense hit a new level in today’s college football with Ewers.

“Throwing the ball nowadays is, like, I feel like that’s the norm,” Sarkisian said. “It used to be running the ball back in the day, now it’s throwing the ball. How do we get better at it, continue and improve? That’s what we’re doing.”

Year Two of the Ewers era in Austin will tell us a lot about where Texas is heading under Sarkisian. Growth is needed from everyone involved with the passing game, not just the quarterback and head coach tandem. But when there are season-long struggles, it’s up to them to rework things and make fixes in the offseason.