Dallas Turner addresses penalty leading to Quinn Ewers injury

The talk between Alabama and Texas fans over the past decade has centered on the ‘what if’ question surrounding a star quarterback’s shoulder, and in the first quarter of Saturday’s matchup it appeared history was repeating itself. Sophomore linebacker Dallas Turner was called for a penalty on a hit against freshman quarterback Quinn Ewers before the medical team came onto the field to take a look.

Ewers would exit the game and not return, although Texas coach Steve Sarkisian said this week the injury does not appear to be as serious as many feared. Nevertheless, the Longhorns went to the backup once again against Alabama and the play came into question.

When asked in his first press conference of the week about the penalty which came on the play, Turner weighed in on the referee’s assessment.

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“Yeah, I was very surprised to see a flag after that,” said Turner. “But that’s football. Just got to adjust to the game and learn from it.”

As a result of the roughing the passer call, Texas got a first down and eventually evened the score at 10-10 with a new quarterback in the game. Although Alabama hung on for a 20-19 win in the end, questions about the health of a Texas quarterback and the play which caused it will continue to swirl.

Dallas Turner weighed in on that point too, sending his best wishes to Quinn Ewers while breaking down his side of the story.

“Honestly, it was no intent to hurt Quinn Ewers,” said Turner. “Honestly, I feel like he’s a good quarterback and I hope he has a very speedy recovery. But it was just a QB hit, that’s how I looked at it, so no intent to hurt him or nothing like that. No dirty play, nothing.”

More on Quinn Ewers injury

On the first-and-goal play late in the first quarter, Ewers threw the ball out of bounds as Turner was coming toward him and leveled a huge hit. Ewers landed hard on the play and took a while to get up before walking off the field under his own power.

The former Five Star Plus+ recruit was looking the part in his second game as Texas starter, completing nine of his first 12 passes for 134 yards before the injury. Hudson Card, who lost the quarterback competition to Ewers, entered the game as a result. Ewers, in turn, headed to the locker room for testing.