The kid is really good and a beast. Finally has a O line and Defense. He is way farther along than the beloved Mayfield and would of beat him if the secondary didn't blow coverage on the TE.
If he keeps exhibiting good judgment I will be pleased. If he can improve his accuracy, I’ll be estatic and he may eventually make a trip to a famous club in New York.
Ditto on the good judgment. He has the moxy to lead this team. Put a great line in front of him and a healthy experienced Ingram then I think we can compete and win against everybody outside of maybe Alabama, Georgia, Clemson and Ohio State.
Were you at the game? Credit is due for: 1) His first back shoulder throw in two years, and while it was hardly a good pass, LJ bailed him out 2) He found there is a left side of the field to throw to 3) Kudos to Sam, Herman, or Beck for finally realizing that the no huddle works much better when you don't let the defense rest by substituting. Ellinger played his best game as a Longhorn, and deserves credit for that. He has a long way to go to be "elite", but he played better than I expected. How much of his lack of progress is on Herman; how much is on Beck we will likely never know. Good kid, and regardless of what any of us think, he is our QB.
He is still the weakest link in our offense (by far), but if he can keep from going full Ehlinger, we can win a lot of games. The biggest question mark for him is will he able to pull off a 4th quarter drive to win the game when we need it.
Y'all know that I'm not his biggest fan, however Herman is going to start him so we have to hope for him to have success. The good news is that he is winning, since Maryland he hasn't been turning the ball over too much, and he has been improving week to week. He is definitely earning some respect with me as he goes this season. What he still needs to work on is his accuracy. USC game he had more incomplete than complete and at last check on the season his numbers are still in the 50s for percentage which needs to come up quite a bit before we get to OU and WVU on the schedule. Just my $0.02 on the subject.
I will also add, my stance on Ehlinger is kind of the same as my stance on Texas in general. I am very cautiously optimistic for improvement. I do want to think Texas and Ehlinger are improving, but lord knows we have been burned before for years now, so I am waiting and seeing. Let's see how the next three games play out before we hit the bye week. I really want to see us 6-1 and bowl eligible in mid-october like we used to be in the Mack Brown days. For that to happen, I think Ehlinger will have to continue to improve and minimize mistakes.
I heard him compared to Tim Tebow on some show, but they said Ellinger was a better passer. Tebow was probably a better runner. I think it is a good comparison. Tebow got some nice hardware. Sam could use some of that hardware.
We win three games and ya'll have Sam picking up a Heisman? Really? Better than Mayfield? Really? Have you seen the tight windows Mayfield sticks a pass in? Did you see our receivers laying out, making spectacular catches because they had to? Mayfield is Colt McCoy north of the Red River. Sam aint no Colt McCoy. Not even close. He played well. Stayed within himself. No turnovers. I like what I'm seeing. Still a long way to go.
Sam won't win a Heisman this year. He's not the best QB in the Big 12, not to mention the nation. I agree he's no Colt McCoy or Mayfield. I don't think he will ever become that kind of QB. I agree he's got a long way to go. However, Sam has tools very similar to Tebow. Tebow won a Heisman by making plays and winning games. If the offense continues to improve and Sam continues to improve, there could be a Heisman in Sam's future.
How do I like Sam now? 22 for 32 (68.75 %), 2 TD's, 0 int, TD run from 3 yds 0 Fumbles Numbers don't lie. That is all!
How about we all stop knee jerking and see the seasons body of work as it comes along. I think Sam is a capable qb with historically lots of inconsistencies. I hope for all our sakes he keeps up with the improvement thing, but starting to compare him to heisman winners after a couple good games is absolutely stupid. Do the same through the last game of the year while becoming the teams clear vocal leader and I'll be screaming from the rooftops. Until then I'll be thrilled when he has a good game and not surprised at all if he looks lost while laying a rotten egg.
We won, so I shouldn't be too critical of Sam, but the OP asked the question so I'm going to be blunt and honest. The best thing about Sam right now is that he isn't turning the ball over. As long as he protects the ball Texas has a legit chance of winning. The kid is all heart, and a good leader, those are his best attributes. SPOILER Alert: The rest of what I'm going to say isn't nice. 1. Sam can't throw for ****. He holds onto the ball too long, he is about as accurate as a blind man with a sniper rifle. 1 out of every 5 passes are on target. The rest are pretty much a feat for our receivers to catch the ball. He can't run the zone read to save his life. He is so slow in the read part it almost never works. When I watch him play the position, I think the same thing Gary Patterson thinks, he is a full back playing QB. With all that said, he is only a sophomore and has time to develop and fix these things. It took Vince 4 years to become a decent passer, it took Colt 3 years. If he can continue to take care of the ball and be a game manager he will keep his starting position and continue to develop. Right now he is lucky because Texas has some great receivers, next year when Johnson and probably LJ are gone, he is going to have to improve enough as a passer to make up for the loss of those play makers. It's a legit comparison right now, Tebow is very similar, the difference is Tebow was a much better runner and passer at this comparitive point in their careers. If you want to call him a poor man's Tim Tebow, it's fair. but Ehlinger has a long way to go in his development. Still with all that said, he is making good strides as a QB. Right now his play is the difference between Texas winning and losing. I believe the kid can get a lot better, but it's going to take time an patience.
We have three really good to great receivers in Johnson, Humphrey and Duvernay. Our offensive line has improved and gives our qb time to throw. Tre Watson is a super addition to the backfield and run game. A passing qb would make our offense lethal. We are starting the wrong qb. That said, I like Ehlinger and hope his passing improves. We will see 7-8 men in the box and single coverage making Sam beat them with his arm.
I like him. I unfairly compared Sam Ehlinger to Tyrone Swoopes after the Tulsa game. (Not that being compared to TS is an insult. Great athlete, wonderful kid. I should be so lucky to raise my son to be that kind of person but he wasn't a great college QB. ) Sam wants to win so bad and he is 100% alpha. Believes in himself 100% and leads like he believes it. He may not be that accurate of a passer but if he keeps playing like this, I would compare him more to Tim Tebow (I know I know this is a stretch at this point, but...) I think that is what TS lacked more than anything. He wanted it, but it just wasn't in his nature to be the chief. Much better indian.
Sam's not the weakest element in this offense, although there's no question it's still not hitting on all cylinders, and he's part of that reason. The drive where we got it down close and he took way too long and eventually got sacked, then telegraphed a screen that went for a big loss... another play where he threw the swing pass behind Watson and caused him to fall down and lose yardage... there are still things like that he needs to get cleaned up. Having said that, he's improved a lot and throwing downfield with more confidence, and making fewer throws under duress that have traditionally turned into turnovers. He may not be laser accurate, but his downfield midrange passes have been pretty solid overall. The main issue is still inconsistency up front - technically that's a NEW issue, because the OLD issue was that the line stunk. It doesn't any more - massive improvements. But we're still giving up too much penetration in the run game, and maybe that's just certain blocking schemes that aren't working. But the middle of our line gets pushed back a lot against good defensive linemen, and part of that is the youth and the need for more strength. Part of that is the usual suspects. It still felt like TCU could get pressure whenever it wanted, and Sam did pretty well to hold up, stand in at times and bail out at other times. His decision-making in that area continues to improve. TCU basically stopped with the three-man rush because Ehlinger has become a lot better at finding his receivers. To Diablo's point, I thought it was telling that TCU did not stack the box that much from what I could see. Not uncommon for them to have six in the box, linebackers 3-4 yards off the line, playing coverage. I suspect they felt like they could pick when the pass/run was coming and didn't bother stacking when they expected a pass.
That last TD was beautiful the way he felt the pressure coming and started to run for it, then immediately noticed the pocket re-forming and took a step back into it before finding his man. Also noticed in the USC and Tulsa games several times he looked off the defense, staring at Johnson over the middle before hitting Humphrey near the sideline instead. He's still moving through his progressions slowly and often waiting too long to throw it when a guy first starts to get open. Looks to me like he's being overly cautions, in effect sacrificing some positives in order to also cut down on the big negatives. I think this is the right move as from here he can keep learning to speed up the decision-making, but at least he's starting from a place of not-screwing-it-up.
Texas sophomore QB Sam Ehlinger named one of eight honorees for the Davey O’Brien Award’s “Great 8” list in Week 4
I don't think he is Davey O'Brien quality just yet and they usually name half the country to the list in the beginning of the season. I think his best qualities are his body and his gumption. His worst qualities are his inaccurate arm at times (sometimes like Tulsa and TCU he's fine) and his indecisiveness (holding ball too long deciding on reads in two open guys, zone read, etc). He is improving and he is winning. He isn't a guy who has Heisman, Camp, Maxwell or O'Brien numbers. Doesn't mean he won't get there, but he's not there yet.
Sam is playing well right with the running game opening things up downfield. The play calling has been much better. Two gripes are we need to run a traditional QB sneak when needed and at times use the traditional tight end passing game to open up the middle of the field. If there was a game to lose so far, I'm glad it was to Maryland. One more gripe, our kickoff return and punt returns need to vastly improve.
If you exclude a crappy game 1 in which the entire team looked horrible, in 3 games Ehlinger has: 9 TDs (2 passing and 1 rushing in each game) 270 yards per game (238 passing 32 rushing) 0 INTs I would take that from anyone. Especially when you consider that our run game has been lackluster overall. He isn't VY but he has been very good the last 3 games. Hell even if you include Maryland he has 8 passing TDs to 2 INTs. That is a good ratio by any standard.
From this weeks Media guide: Ehlinger is the first Longhorn QB since Colt McCoy in 2008 to have at least two TD passes and one rushing TD in three consecutive games. • He has passed for more than 200 yards in four-straight games to begin the season, becoming the first Longhorn QB since McCoy in 2009 to do so. McCoy (2007, '09), Major Applewhite (1999) and Peter Gardere (1992) are the only other Longhorn QBs to do so in school history. • Ehlinger is the first Longhorn QB ever to pass for at least 200 yards and two touchdowns in each of the season's first four games. Seems like he might be doing pretty well. Disagree with 1st back shoulder ball. Has executed that pass numerous times - receivers have to know how to catch that pass. 6, 13, 84, and 9 all dropped passes against USC. Receivers had a good day Saturday
This...plus, I think he still has issues throwing across his body to the left sideline. Maybe if he could roll quickly and set up (I definitely don't like seeing him throw left WHILE rolling left)? Managed the game and his mistakes well.
He was 22-32 on Saturday with 0 INTs. I will call your assessment here hyperbole. Exact same thing many said about Colt his sophomore year. No QB can be successful without good receivers.
Listening to some of the comments on Fox, I am left wondering if the real reason Sam is still the starter is using words like "intrinsically" and thus tries to speak the same multi-syllabic language as MensaBoy. Yes, Sam was QB for two wins in a row over ranked teams, but there are too many passes that resulted in gains ONLY because of extra efforts by the receivers. He is simply not a QB to build a team around. Maybe by the end of the year, I will see that there is more polish to him, but I am not holding my breath...smurf blue interferes with the Burnt Orange. In order for him to succeed, he HAS to realize that a three-yard pass when we need eight to move the sticks is NOT a wise play.
What games are you people watching? He is not throwing as well as Colt in any year. I am still not sure he is better than Swoopes given Swoopes did not have these receivers and was in the Shawn Watson offense. A lot of his completed passes are still off target. If you want to bring up statistics, Ehlinger is currently 65th in the country in his passing efficiency rating which is 8th in the Big 12 ahead of only the TCU QB and the Kansas QB. I am happy to see him minimizing mistakes and improving, but he still has a long way to go. Herman is sticking with him no matter what. I hope he is playing like Colt or Tebow at the end of the year.
This is true^^^. And we will not play any team that can cover Lil Jordan, Johnson and Duvernay one on one. Sam is feasting from great receivers making great catches, and busting their butts to get yards after catches. True this^^^. But our defense is also full of playmakers which are setting our O up in position to score. All Ehlinger has to do is avoid turnovers and we have a great shot to win. Like someone said above, as long as we don't need a big drive in the fourth quarter to win the game, Sam has enough skills to win. And TH is not changing QB's. So we sink or swim with SE. I'm hoping we swim.
