Texas Football: Ehlinger and Fromm set premier NY6 sophomore showdown
The Sugar Bowl is going to be a fun matchup to watch for Texas football on both sides of the ball, facing a young and talented quarterback from Georgia.
The New Year’s Six Bowls deliver some promising action this year, especially with the teams on the outside looking in for the College Football Playoff. This lineup for the New Year’s Six sets another loaded slate of blue bloods for what promises to be an entertaining postseason. Texas football is just one of those teams in the New Year’s Six this season.
Potentially the most intriguing of those New Year’s Six Bowl games is the Allstate Sugar Bowl which will pit No. 15 ranked Texas football against the No. 5 ranked Georgia Bulldogs. Texas football is coming off its disappointing 39-27 loss to the Oklahoma Sooners in the Big 12 Championship Game. Oklahoma wound up as the last team in the College Football Playoff field as a result.
Georgia ended up in the Sugar Bowl due to its heartbreaking 35-28 loss to the Alabama Crimson Tide in the SEC Championship Game. The Dawgs couldn’t hang on against one of the best backup quarterbacks in the nation in junior Jalen Hurts. A strong fourth quarter run powered the Crimson Tide past Georgia to take back the SEC Title.
Meanwhile, Georgia and Texas football both got standout quarterback play in each conference title game. Texas was powered by sophomore quarterback Sam Ehlinger, who managed more than 300 passing yards and four total touchdowns. Georgia nearly upset Alabama behind the efforts of sophomore quarterback Jake Fromm, who posted more than 300 passing yards and three touchdowns.
Fromm and Ehlinger both played very well in their conference title games. It just so happened each team lost to two opponents that will be facing off in a College Football Playoff Semifinal (Oklahoma and Alabama).
This sets up a very intriguing showdown between two of the brightest young stars at quarterback in the nation. Ehlinger and Fromm are both very likely to be credible Heisman candidates next year. Fromm was even a good pick for the Heisman Trophy during the 2018 preseason.
Fromm carries his 2,236 passing yards and 27 total touchdowns into a difficult battle against a very talented Texas squad. Head Texas football coach Tom Herman can win 10 games for this program for the first time since 2009. Fromm will have a hard time preventing that from happening.
Moreover, Fromm will have to contend with an upstart dual-threat quarterback from the Texas Longhorns in Ehlinger. The stat line for Ehlinger this fall was much improved from his freshman campaign. He’s posted more than 3,100 total yards and 34 touchdowns.
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One of the most outstanding part of the numbers for both Fromm and Ehlinger is the interception totals. Fromm and Ehlinger combined for just nine interceptions this season, so the turnover battle is going to be very difficult to win for both sides. That makes for such an interesting quarterback matchup, that it could be the best between any two quarterbacks of all the New Year’s Six Bowl games.