University of Texas (UT) Longhorns head football coach Steve Sarkisian has named Quinn Ewers the team’s starting quarterback, per Austin media outlets’ reports.
Austin ABC affiliate KVUE reported that the announcement came Friday, just a day after Sarkisian expressed his wishes for more competition at several positions, including under center.
Ewers, a redshirt freshman who was a star at Southlake Carroll, beat out local product Hudson Card for the coveted spot.
“Big things come in ATX . . . stay tuned!” UT’s newly tabbed signal-caller said in a tweet.
KVUE reported that Ewers is expected to immediately take snaps with the first-team offense while the sophomore Card, a Lake Travis alum, will be assigned to the second team.
According to Austin NBC affiliate KXAN, Ewers and Card were locked in a battle since spring practice.
"That's what should make everybody in our program better, is when there's healthy competition at your position, knowing, 'Man, I've got to bring it every day . . . I've got to show that I'm willing to be coachable and to make the improvements in my game," Sarkisian, who enters his second year at UT, said, per KVUE.
For the San Antonio-born, Dallas-Fort Worth-reared Ewers, being handed the keys to the Longhorns offense is a full circle moment.
ESPN reported that the 6-foot-2, 206-pound quarterback first pledged to UT as a member of the high school class of 2022, but after he was reclassified a year ahead, he rescinded his commitment to the Longhorns in favor of Ohio State.
Ewers saw a mere two plays’ worth of action with no passes thrown while in a Buckeyes uniform, per ESPN.
Austin Journal reported in June that Ewers transferred to UT after the 2021 season.
According to KXAN, his burnt orange debut will be the Longhorns’ season opener against Louisiana-Monroe at Darrell K Royal–Texas Memorial Stadium on Sept. 3.
It’ll be his first real football game since Southlake Carroll’s loss in the Class 6A title game to the Westlake Chaparrals in early 2021, the station reported.