Through the first two and a half games this season, Quinn Ewers looked like a Heisman winner. In fact, the junior QB was the

In Week 3 for two and a half games. Manning’s penchant for going deep was noticeable right out of the gate. Ewers would throw long occasionally, but Manning did it regularly.

Ewers came back for the Oklahoma game, but looked rusty. The next week against Georgia was a disaster. It didn’t even look like Ewers could go deep.

The Southlake product was 25 of 43 for just 211 yards passing, two TDs and three turnovers. It was certainly his worst game of 2024. It was reminiscent of his game against Oklahoma last year and the final drive against Washington in the playoff. He looked lost. By the second quarter he already had that thousand yard stare of someone that is shell shocked.

Ewers started to look more like himself against Vanderbilt. He was 27 of 37 for 288 yards, 3 TDs and 2 INTs. At one point he had 17 straight completions. But the Commodores turned both interceptions into touchdowns. Still, Texas won beating a ranked SEC opponent on the road.

But since the game, Ewers has been criticized for settling for check-downs and throwing passes short of the sticks.

Texas coach Steve Sarkisian address this concern in his weekly press conference. “Tell the DBs to move up, and we will throw over them,” Sarkisian said. “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.”

23 of Ewers’ 27 completions were passes less than 10 yards. But it was successful because Texas pass catchers generated 228 yards after the catch. A lot of this is by design. Sark’s offenses are known for getting the ball to athletic receivers and letting them make a play.

Ewers is actually throwing deep a tick more than he was pre-injury. But fans and media seem to be subconsciously comparing him to Manning. When Manning is the starting QB next year, presumptively, he might not throw deep as much as he has this season.

When Ewers is on top of his game, he takes what the defense gives him. With the weapons the Horns have at WR, he can go short and try for yards after catch or go long. We’ll see how it plays out the rest of the year.