© Ricardo B. Brazziell / American-Statesman / USA TODAY NETWORK
Amid Longhorns QB 'Controversy', Quinn Ewers is 'The Guy'
When Steve Sarkisian and the Texas Longhorns landed quarterback Quinn Ewers from Ohio State via the transfer portal, it was the biggest recruiting win in his short tenure in Austin.
Ewers, who had initially committed to the Longhorns out of high school before ultimately ending up at Ohio State, was seen by some as the quarterback to bring Texas back to the top of the college football mountain.
In his first season, though, that was not the case as Ewers showed the typical highs and lows of a freshman. Now it is a year later, and Sarkisian has landed a second white whale in recruiting - quarterback Arch Manning.
The commitment of Manning, which was announced in a tweet with the caption "Committed to the University of Texas. #HookEm" broke the college football world and caused immediate speculation as to how much faith Sarkisian had in Ewers.
Fast forward to this spring with Manning on campus, and those rumors are flying once again. However, Craig Way, the voice of the Texas Longhorns, reasserted that the job is Ewers' in an interview on 105.3 The Fan in Dallas.
"It's his to lose," Way said. "He's certainly the guy. I understand completely why Steve Sarkisian said the things that he said when they asked him about that. When he's asked the question about 'Is this his job? Does it even matter?' and Sark was like 'We want competition'."
Way, of course, is referring to Sarkisian's comments about not naming a de facto "QB1" this early in spring. While those are perfectly normal comments for a coach to make, the quote did its rounds in social media under the guise of a "quarterback controversy" in Austin.
Simply put, that is not the case as Manning has yet to overtake Ewers on the depth chart according to Way.
"He wants to continue to see Arch Manning have the improvement," Way said. "And Maalik Murphy is now on the practice field and is working. The guy who had to miss last year, or came in early and had to miss because of the foot injury he had and the surgery."
"Right now, when they practice Maalik (Murphy) is running with the twos, behind Quinn (Ewers). Quinn made strides late in the year and he had a really good bowl game and played well late in the season."
When Ewers was on, he was on. This was seen against when he came back from injury against Oklahoma and completed 21-of-31 passes for 289 yards and four touchdowns with just one interception in a 49-0 blowout win.
On the flip side, though, he had some games where you could tell he was a freshman - namely against Oklahoma State. In a 41-34 loss to the Cowboys, Ewers went 19-of-49 for 319 yards with two touchdowns and an uninspiring three interceptions.
By the time the season was ending, however, he appeared to be putting it together with his progress culminating in an impressive showing against Washington in the Alamo Bowl loss, which saw him complete 31-of-47 passes for 369 yards and a touchdown.
Even with Ewers showing signs of progress as a quarterback, there were still detractors who thought he might be too laid back or not taking it seriously, a narrative that seemingly flipped when he sported a new hairstyle this offseason.
"In the offseason, I know a lot was made about the fact that he cut his hair and shaved off the beard," Way said. "People said 'Now he's serious!' He was serious about it all along, ask his teammates. They love hanging with him and being with him."
"He's just a low key guy and keeps that temperature running a little bit lower, and so some folks mistake that for lack of caring. That's not the way the kid was constructed. Has he been a little more amped up? Yeah, perhaps, and maybe some of that goes into developing your leadership skills - but I think he was respected by his teammates all last season, and I think that continues into the spring drills."
Until the Longhorns take the field for the first time in the fall, questions will surround the quarterback position, which comes with the territory of having two high-profile names.
For now, though, the job is Ewers' to lose.
You can find Connor Zimmerlee on Twitter @Connorjz98
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