'No Excuses': Texas QB Quinn Ewers Looks For Better Results Following Bye Week
Quinn Ewers is still learning the ins and outs of playing quarterback for the Texas Longhorns. Then again, the redshirt freshman isn't looking to make excuses for his lackluster performance against No. 9 Oklahoma State.
As he puts it, it was just a bad day under center and a lesson learned for future matchups.
“I don’t like to make excuses," Ewers said Monday. "So for myself, this just shows I need to practice better. Practice habits turn into game habits. Coming into this game I thought I had a pretty good week of practice, but obviously, it wasn’t the right way to practice.”
Ewers suffered a finger injury earlier in the week when the top of the nail on his right pointer finger was ripped off. That could have factored into his grip and ability to deliver clean strikes to his receivers in stride.
Sure, one could say that factored into an underwhelming outing in a 41-34 loss to the Cowboys at Boone Pickens Stadium. Ewers doesn't see it that way, noting that injuries are bound to occur during the regular season, and it can't be a crutch for insufficient play.
Ewers completed 19 of 49 passes for 319 yards with two touchdowns and three interceptions. He never was in rhythm with star receiver Xavier Worthy, with one arrant pass leading to an early interception. On multiple occasions, Ewers overshot the target downfield that could have gone for touchdowns based on the coverage presented by the Pokes.
On throws over 20 yards, Ewers went 1 of 9 passing. His 15 overthrows were the most in the FBS in the past three seasons.
"There were some great plays that were made," Texas (5-3, 3-2 Big 12) coach Steve Sarkisian said Monday. "Obviously, you don't throw for 320 yards without having some good plays in there, but there were plenty of missed opportunities as well."
Ewers will have to upgrade his play style if Texas hopes to remain a contender for the Big 12 title. And yes, although down, mathematically the Horns still are in the hunt to make it to Arlington on Dec. 3 of the Big 12 Championship.
Sarkisian noted that while Ewers struggled with consistency, Texas struggled with penalties. The Horns were charged with a season-high 14 penalties that ended up costing them 120 total yards. Eight of the 14 calls were on pre-snap errors while two more were on holding calls, one of which negated a 33-yard scramble by Ewers with two minutes left.
Undisciplined play has been one of the more common themes surrounding the program. Currently, Texas is averaging 6.38 penalties and 51 penalty yards per game.
"The fouls were called," Sarkisian said. "We didn't perform well enough, and that's what we need to focus on. I can't be concerned about how things get called or don't get called. I need to focus on what we need to do and how we can get better."
Sarkisian backed Ewers following Saturday's loss in Stillwater, stating that he never considered benching the Southlake Caroll native in favor of veteran Hudson Card. The second-year coach still believes Texas controls its destiny, and Ewers can be the reason behind it.
One area Sark hopes to Ewers improve during the bye week is with his progressional reads. Worthy was targeted a team-high 16 times Saturday. The next closest in terms of targets was tight end Ja'Tavion Sanders with seven. The expectation is for Ewers to move past the "premier looks" and attack the secondary reads downfield.
Sarkisian also is hoping a week off will give players ample time to rest up for the remainder of the regular season. Perhaps it'll be time for Ewers to reset his mind before having to adapt to playing in another difficult road environment at Kansas State.
"There's definitely room for growth," Sarkisian said. "He's still a young player for us, but he has a bright future ahead of him. Hopefully, we can clean up some of the issues we had this week so going into next week, he's back to playing razor sharp."
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