Texas Football: 3 takeaways from Longhorns’ decimation of Texas Tech

Quinn Ewers continues to struggle to go through his progressions

Texas’s main source of offense in this game was the ground game and junior kicker Bert Auburn. It’s noteworthy that Auburn scored more points in this game just with field goals than Texas Tech did on offense.

When you look at the scoreboard by the end of the third quarter of this game, you would think that redshirt sophomore quarterback Quinn Ewers had a massive day through the air. But that wasn’t necessarily the case.

Ewers had a decent performance in this game. He got going early with a solid first offensive drive that saw the Longhorns score on a backward pass to Keilan for a nine-yard score. Quinn didn’t get credit for a passing touchdown on that play since it was a backward pass to Keilan.

Ewers completed 17 of 26 passing attempts for under 200 passing yards, one passing touchdown, and one interception before Manning took over in the second half with Texas up big. There were some missed opportunities by Ewers, including when he underthrew a pass to junior wide receiver Adonai Mitchell that was intercepted in the first half.

Texas Tech did get some pressure on Ewers in the pocket in the first half, which resulted in three sacks. But Ewers wasn’t able to step up in the pocket or evade the pressure for a completion on any of the plays he was pressured.

This theme has come about in the last couple of games for Ewers. He’s struggled to go through his progressions, especially when he comes under pressure in the pocket. Ewers can make nice passes on target on the first read when it’s available. But he’s still struggling to work through his progressions consistently when the first read isn’t there and/or when he is put under pressure in the pocket.

It wasn’t an issue for the Longhorns in this game, as Ewers didn’t need to have a massive game to beat Texas Tech. But it is something worth watching moving forward, as Texas needs Ewers to work through his progressions more effectively when this team faces more difficult competition in the Big 12 Championship Game and either in a New Year’s Six Bowl game or the College Football Playoff.