Texas’ Quinn Ewers stakes his claim as the top quarterback in the nation

ANN ARBOR, Mich. — Before the question was finished, Steve Sarkisian assigned the media some quick homework. Texas quarterback Quinn Ewers has won starts at Alabama and now at Michigan over the past two seasons, after Saturday’s 31-12 statement win.

“I’d love you guys to research that for me,” the Texas head coach said, wondering who else had accomplished that feat. “Just Google real quick and you’ll give me an answer in 30 seconds.”

Google and other historical databases checked later couldn’t find an answer. Notre Dame accomplished it in 1979 and 1980 but with different quarterbacks.

Ewers is likely the first QB in the sport’s 150-year-plus history to win at the two winningest programs in consecutive years. In those two games, Ewers has completed 65 percent of his passes for 595 yards, six touchdowns and no interceptions.

It’s time to start putting respect on Quinn Ewers’ name. And I mean real, true respect.

It feels weird to say. But despite the wins, despite being among the Heisman Trophy favorites, despite being in a big Dr. Pepper commercial this season, it feels like we’re not really appreciating what Ewers has done. We’re just waiting for what’s next.

Walking around Texas tailgates before Saturday’s game, I counted more No. 16 Arch Manning jerseys than No. 3s for Ewers. Texas fans who gathered around the Michigan Stadium tunnel in the final minutes on Saturday kept asking each other and looking to see if Manning would come in the game. The views on every story and YouTube video for anything Arch go through the roof.

It’s time to stop that and put it to bed for good. Enough with the quips and the jokes. There is no quarterback controversy in Austin. There never was. There’s always so much talk about the future — there hasn’t been enough appreciation of the present.

It was Ewers who finally brought Texas back to prominence. It was Ewers who won at Alabama, won the Big 12 and reached the College Football Playoff last year.

It was Ewers on Saturday who kept driving Texas forward, even when three offensive line penalties turned an opening touchdown drive into a missed field goal. It was Ewers who followed with a six-play, 56-yard scoring drive capped by a 22-yard touchdown pass. It was Ewers who kept moving in the pocket and helping Texas convert eight of 10 third downs in the first half. It was Ewers who always kept the Longhorns one step ahead and never in danger, putting the offense on his back when it was down to third- and fourth-string running backs in the second quarter.

“He just doesn’t get affected by crowd noise or the emotions of a game,” Sarkisian said. “He stays really clear-minded and focused on what he needs to do.”

It wasn’t always that way. Ewers’ first true road game in 2022 was a disaster — he completed 39 percent of his passes with three interceptions in a windy loss at Oklahoma State. But he hasn’t lost a road game since, winning the past eight. His career numbers on the road are better than at home.

It gets lost sometimes just how much pressure Ewers has been under from the moment he arrived in college. A five-star recruit, he left Southlake Carroll High School in Texas early to enroll at Ohio State and make NIL money only to transfer to Texas following the season after barely seeing the field. Before Ewers had played a game for the Longhorns, Manning committed to Texas, leading to outside speculation wondering if Ewers would transfer again or when he’d eventually cede the job to Peyton Manning’s nephew.

Instead, he took the weight of being the Texas quarterback — and all the politics, spotlight and Matthew McConaughey-ness that comes with it — and he’s taken the Longhorns to a level they haven’t been at in almost 15 years.

Saturday’s dominating win was a reminder that Texas should compete for a College Football Playoff berth and national championship once again this year. There remain hurdles, like the Red River Rivalry game with Oklahoma that the Longhorns lost last year, followed by a home visit from Georgia, and of course the trip to Texas A&M to close the regular season.

But Texas once again looks like one of the best teams in college football. Forget the “Texas is Back” jokes. Saturday told us the Longhorns aren’t going away, and it’s because of the quarterback more than anything else.

As players and coaches sang “The Eyes of Texas” with the thousands and thousands of Burnt Orange-clad fans in an emptying Michigan Stadium, Ewers was still wrapping up a TV interview. He eventually jogged by the southeast corner of the stadium, where the band was, to wave his arms up and down, before heading to the other side of the end zone to embrace friends and family.

Texas fans put as many Horns Up hands as they could as the Longhorns left the field through the tunnel. But as Ewers came by, the same fans who’d been excitedly asking each other if Manning would get in the game yelled “QUINN!!!” as loud as they possibly could.

It’s time to consider Texas as a No. 1-ranked team. It’s time to consider Ewers the early Heisman Trophy leader. It’s time to stop worrying about Arch and instead appreciate that Texas has a quarterback who just accomplished something few, if any, players in college football history have ever done.

“You know I made it to the Playoff without any backup,” Ewers tells Fansville sheriff Brian Bosworth in the Dr. Pepper commercial.

Ewers might just do it again, and Texas might just have a team that can win it all this time.