"He taught me a lot": Texas HC Steve Sarkisian acknowledges learning significantly from Quinn Ewers amid his struggles in 2024

Quinn Ewers had another tough game on Friday night when Texas came up against Ohio State in the Cotton Bowl. The Longhorns saw their College Football Playoff campaign come to an end after falling 28-14 to the Buckeyes at the AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas.

Facing a strong Ohio State defense, Quinn Ewers completed 23-of-29 passes for 283 yards and two touchdowns. Despite turning the ball over in the red zone for a pick-six late in the game, Steve Sarkisian had a lot of praise for the quarterback, acknowledging what he's learned from him all season.

“I’m super proud of Quinn,” Sarkisian said per On3. “He’s taught me a lot, probably unknowingly to him, because of what he went through every year dealing with injury, what he goes through where I don’t know if he’d ever live up to the standards of what everybody thinks he’s supposed to be.

“But at the end of the day, all he did was show up every day and work and be a great leader and a great teammate. And that’s a real credit to him because human nature, in this day and age, is to look at Twitter, to look at Instagram, to look at social media and articles written and fan boards and whatever else.”

Steve Sarkisian commends Quinn Ewers for his resilience

One virtue Steve Sarkisian believes Quinn Ewers has exhibited this season is resilience. Despite the load of challenges that continued to surface all season, the quarterback never kept showing up and working hard. Sarkisian appreciated this after the Ohio State game.

“All he did was come to work every day,” Sarkisian said. “All he did was be a great teammate. All he did was work on his craft, get himself as healthy as he could when he was injured, and then show up when it was time to show up.

“Maybe outside of the first two games, I don’t think he played a game this year 100% healthy. And he fought through everything. Never complained about it one game. And I think that’s why he has so much respect from his teammates.”

Quinn Ewers was the Heisman Trophy frontrunner in the early weeks of the 2024 regular season. However, after suffering an oblique injury against UTSA in Week 3, he was unable to return to his best when he came back to action against Oklahoma in Week 7.

Nonetheless, Ewers finished the season with 3,427 yards and 31 touchdowns in 14 games. Following the conclusion of the season for Texas, Ewers is now expected to declare for the NFL draft.