Card Shines, Ewers Impresses in Longhorns Orange-White Spring Game

Hudson Card showed growth from the 2021 season, but Quinn Ewers showed upside in his passing for Texas football.

The biggest question surrounding Texas' football program for the last decade-plus is when will the Longhorns be "back" for good. It all depends on when they land the right quarterback. 

For the first time in who knows when, maybe Texas has its answer at QB1. More importantly, QB2 very well could fill in as a starter and find a way to win. That's exactly what Steve Sarkisian wanted from the get-go. 

Quinn Ewers impressed. So did Hudson Card. Both had their mishaps throughout Saturday's Orange-White game, but there's enough film to say that solely based on the game's top position, Texas is in good hands for the 2022 season. 

It needs to be after going 5-7 in the first year of the Sarkisian era.

“Both guys really had some flash plays, some really cool plays,” Sarkisian said. “Whether it’s throwing down the field, orchestrating drives or in the red area. And we saw some plays I think both guys would love to have back. That’s part of the position, sometimes you can’t control some of the other things going on around you."

It's still early in the process. 

Sarkisian made it clear that no one should be looking too deep into what happens under center next season after one spring game, but fans always will pick a side as if there was a Civil War underway inside the walls of DKR.

As the initial starter for the 2021 season, Card impressed on the first drive, going 3 of 3 passing and leading the Longhorns down the field for a 1-yard touchdown run from running back Roschon Johnson.

Card also showed maturity in his decision-making, going with the safe option instead of trying to force something downfield. In the second quarter, he found running back Kelian Robinson in the flats and trusted him to do the heavy lifting. 

Twenty yards later, the offense was in the red zone. 

Quinn Ewers

 The very next play, Card kept the ball on a 6-yard quarterback sneak. 

This isn't to say that Ewers struggled, either. In fact, he gave Longhorns fans the impression that he won the title of first-team quarterback early when he connected with Wyoming transfer receiver Isaiah Nayor for a 62-yard touchdown. 

Ewers also was willing to take risk. On the opening drive, he tried to connect with receiver Dajon Harrison. The two weren't in stride, but the trajectory and the impression of Texas trying to be more explosive was on display. 

More importantly, it gave Sarkisian much to watch on film in the offseason.

"I like where these guys are at," Sarkisian said. "If I could have said that they would play this good after 15 practices this spring, or if one of them would have I’d be ecstatic.”

Both made mistakes throughout the evening. Ewers threw a costly interception in coverage to defensive back Anthony Cook. Multiple times drives stalled with Card running the offense.

For now, it isn't a problem for Texas. In five months, it could be the team's biggest weakness.

Hudson Card

There's still work to be done for Texas and the offense. Plenty of highs, and multiple lows. Sarkisian wanted to keep the game as "vanilla" as possible and to an extent, he did.

The building block is there for the Longhorns in terms of quarterback. Both Ewers and Card showed enough to where either could win the starting job, but both be a high-end backup if one were to be injured.

Prior to becoming the head coach at Texas, Sarkisian worked at Alabama. Everyone on the roster likely would be a starter at a smaller school. 

Hudson Card

For Texas to truly be "back" that's the type of mentality it needs to have. Both Card and Ewers left that on display Saturday.

It's a good problem for Sarkisian to have entering the summer. 

"All in all, I thought it was a good night,” Sarkisian said.

The Longhorns open the season at home against Louisiana-Monroe on Sept. 3. 

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