Texas Football: 5 reasons to believe Longhorns will make the Playoff

3. Sam Ehlinger playing smart when he needs to

The separation in development between sophomore quarterback Sam Ehlinger and junior quarterback Shane Buechele was evident in last week’s six-point win over Baylor. When Ehlinger went down with a Grade 1 shoulder sprain early on against Baylor, Buechele was thrown into the fire for his first snaps of the 2018 campaign.

This had to be something that Buechele was not used to since he started the bulk of the games for Texas football for the two seasons previous to this one. Those results showed through in the form of nearly two interceptions tossed for Buechele (one retracted by a penalty) and one touchdown.

Meanwhile, Ehlinger does not have a single pick tossed since the fourth quarter meltdown against Maryland. Since that time too, Ehlinger is the most efficient and making his best decisions in the pocket of his collegiate career. The threat of his ability to throw from the pocket, make plays outside the pocket, and just use his legs to pick up chunks of yards is quite tough for opposing defenses to deal with.

As long as Ehlinger comes back from this injury by the time Texas football faces the Oklahoma State Cowboys on the road on Oct. 27, this offense should be good to go the rest of the way. Every area of Ehlinger’s stat line (especially completion percentage and interception totals) reflects on the increased awareness and composure he brings to the table with another year of experience.