On Texas Football: Lunch with the Coach, Evaluating Quinn Ewers, Special Teams

Bobby Burton and Bryan Erwin evaluate Quinn Ewers, discuss where he can improve, explains how important special teams are and more on this week’s edition of Lunch with the Coach!

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Erwin, who coached La Marque to two titles after being a graduate assistant for Texas in the 1980s, focused on three specific expectations for the Longhorns this season: better special teams play, the three Ts (turnovers, third downs on defense and three-and-outs reduction by the offense), and explosive plays.

Erwin began with the positives from No. 11 Texas’ 37-10 win over Rice on Saturday. Defense was first.

“No doubt the defense played a great game, but a win is a win,” said Erwin. “I thought our guys played really hard, even on special teams. Defensively though, really impressed. Flying around the ball, playing in space. Great job going plus-three (in the turnover game). Held Rice to just over 100 yards of offense with the starters in, two picks, and Jaylan Ford, what a guy. Defensively, just impressed with the team effort overall. We have a lot of potential, I believe.”

Bobby Burton asked about which players stood out, outside of Ford.

“That No. 93 is a player,” Erwin said with a laugh referring to T’Vondre Sweat. “Sweat was all over the place. Safeties played well. Our corners are great, like Malik Muhammad, who had five tackles. David Gbenda made a few mistakes but played well. Our entire D-line establishing dominance. I felt like we got pressure on the quarterback, they couldn’t run the ball. This defense will be able to carry this football team when the offense isn’t clicking.”

Burton stayed on the subject of defense, asking Erwin if the 2023 Horns have the personnel to present a great defense.

“I do, especially after watching the Big 12 this week,” Erwin said. “After watching LSU and other teams with speed on Saturday, with UT’s speed and physicality, we’re right there, definitely a top 10 defense.”

Burton asked about EDGE Ethan Burke, who had 1.5 sacks during Saturday’s win.

“He was active, played well in space,” said Erwin. “He got pressure. He affected the passing game. He affected the quarterback. He’s a big, strong human being who is only going to get better.”

Burton moved to special teams, where Erwin emphasized UT’s improvement.

“I thought it was outstanding,” Erwin said. “It can be boring, but winning isn’t boring. You have to be great in the kicking game. You have to have a championship caliber kicker. They’ll have to make some kicks for you to win games late. You’ll have to have a punter that punts it 40 or 50 yards. Bert Auburn took a ton of pressure of the team heading into halftime. Auburn’s three first-half field goals were huge. Hats off to him.”

Burton brought up punter Ryan Sanborn as well, who averaged 45 yards per punt.

The duo moved over the offense and their feelings after the Rice game.

“They’re still a little inconsistent,” Erwin said. “Too many early three-and-outs. We could’ve prevented that with some basic execution. The shots down the field, I’m still going to give Sark credit. He knows what he’s doing. He knows what he’s after, setting up for this game and the next. From that standpoint, we were really hot and cold. Inconsistent. We got behind the chains quite a bit. We weren’t great on third down as well.”

Texas had 13 offensive possessions on Saturday, but only two of them were four-and-outs. Erwin identified Ewers early mistakes.

“He has to know where to escape, pre-snap reads,” Erwin said. “If he sits in the pocket, knows where the pressure is coming from, and where to look, we’re going to have a big play. The definition of happy feet.”

What were the positives from Ewers play on Saturday?

“I though his intermediate throws were outstanding,” said Erwin. “His RPOs throws were outstanding. He moved the chains with his feet, his intermediate throws, and RPO game. He has to be cleaner. He can’t make the pressure situation worse.”

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Burton wrapped up with the question; How much did Sarkisian leave for Alabama?

“I guarantee you Sark tried to scored 70 (on Rice),” said Erwin. “It’s Game 1. As a coach, you can’t take anything for granted. We had plenty of time in fall camp to get the Alabama game plan ready. Rice had UT’s undivided attention. (For Alabama), we have to convert on third and fourth downs. We got to catch the ball. We have to complete those plays.”