Steve Sarkisian, Quinn Ewers’ close relationship pays off when Texas football needed it most to control playoff destiny
Ewers runs one of his favorite plays to Matthew Golden for 1-yard score, then gets fourth-down conversion
Saturday wasn’t one of Quinn Ewers’ best. But when it came time to make game-winning plays for No. 3 Texas, Ewers delivered.
And that’s all that mattered in a 20-10 road win at Arkansas that keeps Texas in the SEC championship and College Football Playoff hunt.
Not only that, Longhorns (9-1, 5-1 SEC) won their 10th straight true road game and wiped away the memory of a demoralizing disaster at Arkansas in 2021.
“It was a tough night here a few years ago,” coach Steve Sarkisian said. “So to be in this locker room now and hearing the music playing and the guys celebrating is awesome.”
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Ewers missed on some deep balls and lean heavily on shorter routes with the Razorbacks using three safeties, something receiver Matthew Golden called “annoying.” Ewers threw for just 176 yards against one of the worst pass defenses in the nation.
Despite some uneven play by his quarterback, Sarkisian still leaned on Ewers for the two biggest offensive moments of the day.
Arkansas made it a one-score game with a 44-yard field goal with 12:48 left in the fourth quarter. Texas needed a huge answer.
Ewers opened the ensuing possession with a 20-yard completion to Isaiah Bond. Then, the running backs took over. Jaydon Blue had gains of seven, six and then 28 yards before fumbling out of bounds at the Arkansas 14. Quintrevion Wisner’s two runs sandwiched Juan Davis’ five-yard catch, and Texas had the ball at the 1-yard line.
Ewers rolled to his right and threw a perfect dart to Golden, who caught it with two outstretched hands away from the defender. When executed properly, it’s practically impossible to stop. Texas pushed it back to a 10-point lead with 9:05 remaining.
“Every Friday night, we meet or I tell coach Sark what players I like in certain areas,” Ewers said. “And I tell you what, that’s always one of the plays that I really like to like to run. So I was fired up when he called it. You know, every time I he calls it, I'm thinking touchdown all the time.
“All I got to do is put a good ball to Matt, and he’s pretty much going to come down with it every single time.”
Said Golden: “At the end of the play, I had to create separation and give Quinn a good pocket to throw the ball and I had to come down with it.”
The Horns took over again with 6:55 at its own 27-yard line. Wisner plowed forward as the Horns worked on draining the clock. But the offense faced a fourth-and-2 from the Arkansas 30 with 2:24 left. Go for it and close out the win or risk giving it back to the Razorbacks.
Sarkisian admitted UT is not a big quarterback run team or one that uses the zone read. But the Horns called for it right then. Ewers executed the fake, watched the Hogs’ defensive line bite down and he kept it for a three-yard gain. Game over.
“Coach Sark was like, you want to run whatever the certain play that we’ve chosen? I'm like, heck yeah, let’s do it,” Ewers said. “It was just one-on-one, and me and one of their defenders. And I wasn’t really thinking a juke move. I was just trying to, you know, get the first down and try to fall forward.”
Said Sarkisian: “I didn’t know that safety would be there as quickly as he was, but it was a heck of an effort by Quinn to get the first down.”
After the fourth-down run, defensive back Jahdae Barron said he snunk into the offensive huddle just to give Ewers a hug. “He has a lot of haters, he has a lot of love. But I love that dude all the way to the fullest. That’s a warrior move.”
Those two plays were enough on a day the offense had 315 total yards but went 4-for-15 on third down and averaged 4.3 yards per play, a rather pedestrian number given UT’s other performances.
Still, it was a win. Eleven players are still on the roster who were there in 2021 when the Razorbacks stomped the Longhorns and danced all night long. The fans even stormed the field. Nine of those 11 are now starters.
Texas was the team celebrating this time.
“I think you could probably see the emotion on the sidelines when we got that first down,” Sarkisian said. “I mean, everybody was fired up.”
