Texas' Playoff Strategy: Navigating QB Choices & Health

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00:00I think it was rather clear to see on display in the SEC

00:07Championship game that Texas offensively the final month of

00:11this season has not looked fully fit. Perhaps it is the

00:15health of Quinn Ewers. Perhaps it is not the right quarterback

00:19under center for UT. What do you think Steve Sarkeesian's plan

00:24is now in the college football playoff with additional time

00:27to prep at the quarterback spot between Quinn Ewers and Arch

00:31Manning? I am sure his plan is the same it has been under less

00:36ideal circumstances and that's deliver die by Quinn Ewers and

00:41look there are instances when you say look, we're going to

00:45we're going to go with the guy who got us there and you can't

00:47blame him, right? I'll make the comparison. Do you mention the

00:50Georgia Bulldogs? All of those back struggles were tough and

00:55you think man, could Georgia move on to somebody else but

00:58behind Carson Beck is Gunnar Stockton who's nobody has ever

01:02heard of and Jaden Rashad who's seemingly not beat Gunnar

01:06Stockton out on the depth chart behind Quinn Ewers is maybe the

01:11most heralded quarterback prospect in the history of

01:16football. Who has played for Quinn Ewers this season and

01:24looked like he's had the goods. That is again why it is such

01:29a talking point. You sometimes have to just make the difficult

01:33call and instead Sark is making a conservative pregame decision

01:42to go with Quinn Ewers when you look I understand like we now

01:46probably think Texas is going to be in the playoff every year

01:49for the end of time. You don't know that right? There's

01:53nothing Alabama didn't think they weren't going to be in the

01:55playoff after they beat Georgia and they're getting ready to

01:59play Michigan. Well, I think he takes a different approach

02:01today. I think he starts off with Quinn if Quinn is turnover

02:05prone. I think we'll see what played out in the first meeting

02:08against Georgia going to Arch Manning for a spark because if

02:11they're struggling as a 13 and a half point home favorite and

02:15all odds and eyes are on this team to to make it to a national

02:18championship game and they're built that way offensively and

02:22defensively if you're not getting the consistent quarterback

02:25play, he'll make the switch especially after playing in the

02:28semi-final playoff game last year against Michael Pinnock's

02:31in Washington. The expectation and bar is set. So we'll see

02:34how that plays out. I will say this when you look at the

02:37quarterback situation and you look at Quinn Ewers in the SEC

02:41championship through for 358 just, you know, two interceptions

02:44they couldn't get, you know, red zone opportunities. They took

02:47socks, you know bad decision-making by the quarterback

02:51put them in a position to kick field goals and not touchdowns

02:54that cannot be today. If you're looking at the stats though,

02:57Ben, they are a much more dominant home team and I understand

03:00opposition plays into that but you look at the stats Texas at

03:04home this year averaging 305 passing yards per game on the

03:08road 269 a little bit of a drop-off in terms of the rushing

03:12attack. They average 180 at home in terms of on the road.

03:15They're averaging a buck 39 significant drop-off. So they

03:18expect to start fast and this is why Steve Sarkeesian was

03:22brought into Austin to out game plan Dabo Sweeney and that

03:26defense tonight. Listen, Texas has zero wins over teams that

03:29are currently ranked. The Longhorns only have three wins

03:33against power conference teams above 500 Clemson in five games

03:37against power conference foes above 500 one and four straight

03:41up one and four against the spreader two and three straight

03:44up rather one and four against the spread four of those five

03:47games under we showed you the numbers on Quinn Ewers Arch

03:51Manning has not attempted a pass despite playing in multiple

03:54games since the blowout victory over Florida back in early

03:58November. Lisa, you think we are going to see points. We'll

04:01get to the game in Columbus in just a moment, whether it's

04:04Kate Klubnick or somebody else on that Clemson offense who

04:07has to contribute to the scoring output for a Clemson team

04:11that against the best of the best has struggled offensively

04:13can't just be Kate Klubnick. It has to be Phil Moffin. The

04:16reason why I say that is again, you look at that matchup

04:18against SMU Klubnick throws for 262 for touchdowns, but they

04:23couldn't run it consistently in terms of the second half. They

04:25were held to 62 yards on the ground, right? We know that

04:28Texas has the one of the best secondaries in all the college

04:31football holding opposing offenses to 143 passing yards

04:35per game. If they can limit Carson Beck in back-to-back

04:38games, right for basically five quarters, they can do so

04:42potentially with Kate Klubnick has to be Phil Moffins plus

04:45130 to anyway is to score a touchdown, but you need

04:49productivity out of the rushing attack. 66 yards on the ground

04:52for the veteran Moffin or fewer in the last three games for

04:56Clemson against FBS foes. Texas is the best passing defense

05:00in the sport still top 15 defending the run.

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