Texas Football: 4 overreactions from Alamo Bowl win over Utah

3. Sam Ehlinger is returning to Heisman contender form

There were two quarterbacks in the Alamo Bowl that sit among the nation’s best at the position this season. Junior Texas quarterback Sam Ehlinger did see a slight dip in his production this season compared to last. But he still rounded out his junior campaign the right way with more than 270 total yards, four total touchdowns, and one interception.

Meanwhile, senior Utah quarterback Tyler Huntley didn’t show up with his best effort to lead what was a very balanced Utes offense all during the regular season. He barely got over the 120-passing yard mark in this game, and only had one total touchdown on the day. The Utah offense in general only managed one touchdown against a Texas defense that really rose to the occasion.

Despite the down game in the Alamo Bowl, Huntley did still finish the year with a much better passer efficiency rating than Ehlinger. Huntley finished out his career with the Utes with a 177.6 passer efficiency rating, compared to 151.8 for Ehlinger.

Texas and Utah finished up the season trending in very different directions. The Longhorns won their final two games of the year, and Utah lost against opponents of different difficulties. Utah lost in the PAC-12 Championship Game to the team that later beat the Wisconsin Badgers in the Rose Bowl, the Oregon Ducks.

Moreover, the version of Ehlinger that the Longhorns got in the last two games looked like the one that was supposed to contend for a Heisman finalist spot during the fall.