Texas recently named Quinn Ewers the starting quarterback for the season, as the transfer beat out Hudson Card during training camp.
Ewers transferred from Ohio State, where Ewers was battling with three other quarterbacks for playing time and C.J. Stroud had taken control of the position. The new Texas signal-caller was the No. 1 high school recruit in the country, and head coach Steve Sarkisian said he has looked very much like a top recruit so far.
“Since he’s shown up, he’s been a great teammate, he’s been really coachable and he’s just a guy that, quite frankly, can make all the throws,” Sarkisian said on The Rich Eisen Show. “He’s very comfortable in our system of pushing the ball down the field. He’s got a really quick release. I like the leadership, I Iike what he provides, I like the way the guys respond to him when he’s in the game. I feel comfortable with the people we have around him at the skill spots that he doesn’t have to be the guy to make all of the plays, that they can make the plays for him.”
Additionally, Sarkisian believes that Texas has given Ewers a better opportunity to succeed quicker.
“He didn’t go to Ohio State last year until, I think they might’ve already started training camp, and that’s difficult when you’re a true freshman and you go into a different setting with a bunch of guys that you really didn’t get recruited with,” Sarkisian said. “You’re kind of behind the eight ball learning a new system, you're away from home.”
Ewers originally reclassified to attend Ohio State last season, which meant he had to connect with his new teammates while moving to a new state. Sarkisian said Ewers coming back to his home state of Texas and having a whole offseason has helped.
“I think for us, naturally he knows a lot of the guys on this team, being from Texas makes sense to him,” Sarkisian said, “He got himself an entire offseason, from winter conditioning to spring ball to summer, to get acclimated. I just think all in all, it’s just a better setup for success. I don’t think it’s anything against Ohio State, I just think it was difficult for Ryan (Day) and their team to get him acclimated as quickly as needed to when we had months to get him prepared for it.”
