Texas Football: Sam Ehlinger cracks top 3 in latest ESPN Heisman watch

Sam Ehlinger and this Texas football team have a lot on the line for next weekend in the Big 12 opener against Texas Tech in Lubbock.

The way that senior star Texas football quarterback Sam Ehlinger showed out in the season opener last weekend was nothing short of spectacular. Texas got the win at home back on Sep. 12 over the UTEP Miners out of Conference-USA by the convincing final score of 59-3. That 56-point dismantling of the Miners at home last weekend earned Ehlinger a plethora of Big 12 and national weekly honors.

In that win over UTEP, Ehlinger registered more than 420 passing yards, five passing touchdowns, and no turnovers, in the first half alone. That helped Texas take a commanding 45-3 lead into the locker room at halftime. And if not for getting yanked with a big lead in the second half, that stat line could’ve been even better for Ehlinger.

That was truly one of Ehlinger’s best performances of his college career to date.

As a result of his play in the season opening win over UTEP, Ehlinger helped push the Longhorns into the top 10 of both major polls heading into Week 3 of the 2020 college football season. He is also continuing to garner more hype both for his stock in the 2021 NFL Draft, if he decides to declare following this season, and his Heisman campaign.

In the latest edition of ESPN’ Heisman watch, Ehlinger managed to climb into the top three candidates to take home the honors. He rang in at No. 3 on the list from ESPN this week, behind Clemson’s star quarterback Trevor Lawrence and Oklahoma freshman signal caller Spencer Rattler. Behind these three quarterbacks on the Heisman watch were Clemson running back Travis Etienne and Oklahoma State running back Chuba Hubbard, in order to round out the top five.

Here’s more on what ESPN had to say was “notable” and “quotable” about Ehlinger following the Longhorns season opening win over UTEP.

"Notable: Ehlinger threw for a whopping 426 yards and a career-high five first-half touchdowns in a dominating win over UTEP on Saturday — including a 78-yarder on the first play.Quotable: “I hope we can continue to spread the ball around to [many of our receivers],” Ehlinger said. “There’s too much talent not to.”"

Ehlinger and the Longhorns will have some time to rest and prepare for what lies ahead in the Big 12 slate this weekend, as they get their first official bye week of the 2020 season. Next up for Texas is the Big 12 opener on Sep. 26, on the road against the Texas Tech Red Raiders.

Rattler and the Sooners are not in action this weekend either. Oklahoma dominated the FCS Missouri State Bears in their opener on Sep. 12. Meanwhile, Hubbard will be in action this weekend as Oklahoma State opens their season against Tulsa at home. Lawrence will get another shot to pad his stats in Week 3 in a game against The Citadel on Sep. 19.