AUSTIN, Texas — (AP) — Long before Quinn Ewers was a key part of Texas' resurgence as a college football power, he bolted north for Ohio State, lured by money and a chance to play in a program already competing for national championships.
After landing on campus in the middle of training camp and spending a semester deep on the depth chart in Columbus, Ewers headed back south to become the leader of Steve Sarkisian's rebuilding project with the Longhorns.
On Friday, Ewers and Texas will face his former team when the fifth-seeded Longhorns (13-2) and eighth-seeded Buckeyes (12-2) clash in the Cotton Bowl in a College Football Playoff semifinal.
"The reason that I came back to Texas was, one, to be closer to where I’m from and just closer to the resources that I have and the relationships that I’ve built over time just being from Texas,” Ewers said this week.
Ewers grew up in the Dallas suburbs, where the lanky kid developed a super-smooth throwing release and starred at high school football powerhouse Southlake Carroll on his way to becoming the top-rated quarterback recruit in the country.
Everybody wanted him. Including Ohio State, where he had caught the attention of coach Ryan Day at a Buckeyes recruiting camp in 2018. Ewers was still in the eighth grade.
Day, who was then the Ohio State offensive coordinator, marveled at the youngster's “tremendous release.”
“I remember grabbing him and grabbing his dad and said, ‘Man, you got a bright future ahead of you. I don’t know if this is good or bad, but we're going to offer you a scholarship, even in eighth grade,'" Day said. "Again, I don't know if that's legal or not, but we did.”
Still, Ewers seems destined to be a Longhorn. He had committed to Texas by 2020, but as the program continued to struggled under then-coach Tom Herman, Ewers switched to Ohio State.
The Buckeyes were a consistent playoff team. And there was money to be made. Ewers, still a junior, was a top national recruit in the new era of compensating college athletes for use of their name, image and likeness. Texas state law did not allow high school athletes to make money. Ewers reclassified as a senior, left high school before the 2021 season and took off early for Ohio State, where he had an NIL deal reportedly worth nearly $1.5 million.
“Me and my family had a pretty big opportunity in front of us that we felt it was a good decision for me to go on and forego my senior year and enroll early at Ohio State, and I (had) the opportunity to have some good money in our pockets as a family,” Ewers said.
“I don’t regret any decision I’ve made on going or anything like that, but the main reason I went was I felt like I had a great relationship with the coaching staff. And they were winning a lot of games, and I wanted to go be a part of something like that,” he said.
The money was there in Columbus. Playing time was not. Freshman C.J. Stroud won the competition to be the starting quarterback while Ewers was still trying to figure out where to go on campus.
“Definitely had to grow up super fast,” Ewers said. “For me to kind of go in the middle of fall camp and practice at a college level was definitely a shock, for sure.”
Ewers played just two snaps in the 2021 season and didn't throw a pass. Ewers said he still created good relationships with his teammates and noted he and standout Buckeyes defensive end Jack Sawyer were freshmen roommates. Sawyer is one of the top players on Ohio State's top-rated defense and they are sure to meet up again on Friday.
“Those guys were fun to be around when I was there,” Ewers said. “I felt like I belonged there.”
But from his seat on the Buckeyes' bench, Ewers was still looking back at Texas as the Longhorns struggled to 5-7 in Sarkisian's first season. Opportunity awaited in the Lone Star State.
Sarkisian's rebuild needed a jumpstart and Ewers was the spark. Ewers transferred to the Longhorns in time to join spring practice, where he beat out Hudson Card to be the starter for the opening game of the 2022 season.
Despite various shoulder, abdomen and ankle injuries in each of his three seasons, Ewers is 27-8 as a starter. He led Texas to its first Big 12 title in 15 years in 2023, the program's last season in that league, and to the SEC championship game this season. Texas is the only one of last season's four playoff teams to return under this season's expanded 12-team format.
Ewers enters the game against his old team with 8,845 career passing yards and 66 touchdowns, which both rank third in school history. He still has a year of eligibility left, but is expected to turn pro, opening the door for backup Arch Manning to take over.
In the Peach Bowl overtime thriller over Arizona State last week, Ewers' final three passes went for scores and the stage is set for a storybook ending over the next two weeks.
“When he went to Ohio State early on, he should have still been a senior in high school. And when we got him back, he was still, in our eyes, a freshman,” Sarkisian said. "To watch him grow into the leader that he’s grown into for us, his ability to have the poise and composure he has, whether it be injuries, whatever that looks like.
“To be at his best when his best was needed ...I think that’s all from a seismic shift from a maturity standpoint, physically and mentally,” Sarkisian said.
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