Sophomore Surge?: Can Longhorns' Ewers Follow Sarkisian's Historical Trend?
One of the biggest questions surrounding the Texas Longhorns, as they quickly approach the start of the 2023 season, is whether starting quarterback Quinn Ewers can make the necessary improvement to lift his team into Big 12 title contention.
In a recent interview on FS1's "The Herd" with sports talk show host Colin Cowherd, Longhorns coach Steve Sarkisian was asked verbatim the question that everyone has had on their mind during the offseason.
Which is how will Sarkisian and the Horns get Ewers to be more consistent down the stretch?
"You got to remember his freshman year of college, he basically graduated high school early and went to Ohio State. And then we got him in January," Sarkisian said of Ewers' development. "So we kind of felt like last year was his freshman year with us. ... Historically, going into year 2, that's when we really see that step, and all signs are pointing to that's where Quinn is going for us."
A big critique of Cowherd's that he voiced to the Longhorns coach was that he felt Ewers was "too loose," which sometimes got him in trouble and otherwise contributed to his inconsistent play. Sarkisian's response to this was essentially that the youth and experience played a large role in those issues cited by Cowherd.
Sarkisian is right. Ewers, technically speaking, was supposed to be a true freshman last year had he not graduated high school early. But what about this historical year 2 jump that the Texas coach and play-caller points out? Is it true?
Going back as recently as Sarkisian's stint as the offensive coordinator at Alabama, you can see the development of quarterback Mac Jones. After an injury to then-starting quarterback Tua Tagovailoa in the 2019 season, the Tide and Sarksian were forced to pivot to Jones as their starter for the final three games.
In those final three starts completed 68.4 percent of his passes while throwing for 937 yards, 10 touchdowns, and two interceptions, while the Tide went 2-1 to end the season as they lost in the "Iron Bowl" to Auburn. By all means, it wasn't a bad year for Jones in his three starts to end that season, yet it didn't compare to his second season in the system.
In 2020, now the starting signal-caller after Tagovailoa declared for the NFL Draft after the 2019 season, Jones made a significant second-year jump. In year 2 under Sark, Jones's completion percentage skyrocketed up to 77.4 percent, with 4,500 yards, 41 touchdowns, and just four interceptions, in a COVID-shortened season.
Not impressed? Other examples of a second year jump under Sarkisian's guidance includes then-Atlanta Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan and USC’s Carson Palmer.
Now Longhorn fans hope that Ewers can become the next Sarkisian quarterback to make the leap.
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