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The Texas Longhorns avoided an upset at the hands of Vanderbilt on Saturday, escaping with a 27-24 win over the Commodores in Nashville.
Quinn Ewers played a large role in that win, racking up 288 yards and a trio of touchdown passes.
At one point in the action, the starting signal caller completed 17 straight attempts capped by a 25-yard scoring strike to DeAndre Moore in the second quarter.
17 straight completions for Quinn Ewers and another @TexasFootball TD 🔥
📺 SEC Network pic.twitter.com/GeTLrF566j
— SEC Network (@SECNetwork) October 26, 2024
With that being said, a number of those completions came on relatively short passes, a trend that’s followed Quinn Ewers throughout his time in Austin.
In fact, of 79 Power Five passers, the Texas quarterback ranks dead last in average depth of target according to Cody Carpentier of Orangebloods.com.
Essentially, he’s not been asked to throw the ball deep on a consistent basis.
Head coach Steve Sarkisian commented on the offensive strategy after the win over Vanderbilt. He believes that the gameplan allows for the best chance of success.
Texas football coach Steve Sarkisian said Quinn Ewers is elite and can get the ball out of his hands fast and accurately. Said the screen game is key to what they do, shallow cross game, RB check down. Said every team thinks they like to throw deep but they don’t every time.
— Anwar Richardson (@AnwarRichardson) October 28, 2024
Does Quinn Ewers have a deep ball issue?
Getting the ball out of his hand quickly is a strength. His deep ball is not, say a number of NFL scouts.
“I think we’re still waiting to see the consistency, especially on that deep ball. It just feels like, at times, he and AD Mitchell, he and Xavier Worthy are just not on the same page in terms of placement and where the ball needs to be.
“Some of that is definitely on Ewers. He’s got to get better in that regard.”
-NFL scout Matt Miller on Quinn Ewers last season
The numbers seem to reflect an issue with Quinn Ewers’ accuracy on deep throws.
247 Sports wrote that “last season, Ewers ranked 73rd (16-of-47 – 34%) in completion percentage of passes that traveled further than 20 yards – after ranking 89th (16-of-52 attempts – 30.8%) in 2022.”
Sarkisian insists that his quarterback’s inconsistency on long throws isn’t an issue. Rather, opposing defenses have schemed to prevent Texas from taking the top off of the secondary.
“Tell (the DBs) to move up, and we will throw over them. They played man-to-man on one snap that wasn’t in the red area, we threw a touchdown pass. Tell them to move up.
-Steve Sarkisian after the win over Vanderbilt
Quinn Ewers connected with DeAndre Moore on the play Sarkisian referenced after checking into a fade route upon seeing the Vanderbilt defensive look.
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“Quinn changed the play mid-motion,” Moore said. “It’s man, we see it, let’s go get it. He called a slot fade. He put it up there and allowed me to make a play.”
Texas seems to have confidence in their signal caller despite the outside noise. Coaches and teammates have done what they can to quiet the narrative surrounding Ewers.
At 7-1 and positioned for another College Football Playoff appearance, the Longhorns likely don’t care what others are saying about the offensive gameplan. They’ll do what they can to keep piling up the wins.