Texas Football: Quinn Ewers throwing ‘much more confidently’ late in bowl practice
In a few days, Texas football will face the No. 12 ranked Washington Huskies in the Alamo Bowl to try and end the season on a high note. Texas can head into the offseason with some momentum if it emerges triumphant against the Huskies on Dec. 29, which would give this squad a three-game winning streak to cap the 2022 campaign.
The biggest x-factor for the Longhorns in the Alamo Bowl will be redshirt freshman quarterback Quinn Ewers. The first-year starting quarterback will need to play one of the best games of the season if Texas wants a shot to top the Huskies.
Ewers will have more pressure on his shoulders to lead this offense down the field due to some of the significant opt-outs for the Longhorns this postseason. Texas will be without the standing running back duo of All-American junior Bijan Robinson and senior Roschon Johnson.
Bijan and Roschon were so integral to Texas’ offensive success during the regular season, and their absence will obviously be notable in the bowl game.
It sounds like the game plan for head coach Steve Sarkisian and the Longhorns is to rely on the passing game to set the tone on offense much more often in the Alamo Bowl. As many of you know, this diverts from one of the core philosophies of Sark’s offensive scheme where he usually wants to set the tone on the ground and then layer other concepts to get his athletes in space and beat defenses over the top.
Before talking too much about Ewers in the late stages of bowl practice, I do want to say that we already broke down in-depth what he needs to do to have a successful Alamo Bowl.
Moreover, given the change in offensive game plan, it’s clear that Ewers needs to be ready to handle the increased workload right from the get-go.
Texas football QB Quinn Ewers looking more confident in the latter stages of bowl practice
And from the buzz surrounding Ewers’ performances in the late stages of bowl practice, it sounds like he’s making the necessary strides toward a successful outing in the Alamo Bowl.
According to a practice report from Horns247 on Dec. 26 (paid content), Ewers has “has re-centered his fundamentals and technique” and is tossing the ball “much more confidently” in the last couple of weeks of bowl practice.
In the last 10 days or so, we’ve heard a lot Ewers re-setting his mindset while trying to find more chemistry with his receivers in the passing game. And when we’re talking about Ewers finding chemistry with his wideouts, we’re mostly referring to his connection on the deep ball with sophomore Xavier Worthy.
The good news coming out of practice is that the deep ball connection between Ewers and Worthy sounds a lot more natural and consistent than it has in at least the last couple of months.
Confident start is key for Ewers in the Alamo Bowl
All in all, this is the most we’ve heard about Ewers exuding confidence in practice this consistently by making the necessary progressions in throwing drills and ultimately getting the ball where it needs to go. If he can translate this confidence and rhythm in the latter stages of bowl practice to a hot start in the Alamo Bowl against Washington, Texas will be able to stay on-schedule for this adjusted game plan.
Getting Ewers off to a hot start could also mean that we’re seeing a version of him closer to what he showed against Alabama and Oklahoma compared to the off games against Oklahoma State and TCU.
Next. 3 players stepping up late in bowl practice. dark
Texas heads into the postseason with a record of 8-4 (6-3 Big 12) following a 38-27 win at home on Nov. 25 in the regular season finale over Baylor. The kickoff time between Texas and Washington in the Alamo Bowl is set for 8 p.m. CT on Dec. 29 at the Alamodome in San Antonio.