Back when the official response to threats of global annihilation was for us kids to stick our heads between our knees, “Dr. Strangelove” was, perhaps, the inevitable conclusion. The theme of the world’s greatest black comedy was the so-called “missile gap” between the U.S. and Soviet Union, a topic John Kennedy mined while running for president. Turns out there was no such deficit and JFK knew it. Wasn’t the first or last time a presidential candidate would mess with the facts, as we’re learning almost daily.
Trust me when I tell you, though, that, for the better part of this century, there was, indeed, a “quarterback gap” at the State Fair.
And Texas was on the short side until this week.
Now, we can argue whether it’s true that quarterbacks get too much credit when they win and too much criticism when they lose, but it seems safe to say they’ve had a bigger impact on the state’s Greatest Annual Sporting Event than your average deep snapper. For instance, Oklahoma has won 10 of the last 14 games, roughly tracking its corresponding advantage in quarterbacks.
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From Landry Jones to Trevor Knight to Baker Mayfield, Kyler Murray, Jalen Hurts, Caleb Williams and Dillon Gabriel, quarterback play and/or talent has typically been lopsided in favor of the Sooners.
Even when Texas’ quarterback seemed superior — say, Sam Ehlinger over Spencer Rattler in 2020 — the Longhorns failed to take advantage.
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But, if results thus far this season are any indication, it looks like Texas might not have one quarterback better than Oklahoma’s.
Might have two.
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The numbers suggest Quinn Ewers and Arch Manning give the Longhorns a leg up on Michael Hawkins Jr., a true freshman from Frisco Emerson, and the guy he replaced, Denton Guyer’s Jackson Arnold. Ewers/Manning has passed for 1,592 yards and 17 touchdowns this year to Hawkins/Arnold’s 848 yards and eight touchdowns. Then there’s the matter of experience. Ewers has started two games at the Cotton Bowl, routing the Sooners in ‘22 and losing a shootout with Gabriel last year. He’s also won in Tuscaloosa and Ann Arbor and came within a few inches in New Orleans of putting Texas in the national championship game.
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Steve Sarkisian ruled Thursday that Ewers will be back Saturday after missing two starts with an abdominal strain. He deserves the job given his experience, especially in big games. History says his layoff won’t be a factor. He came back after missing three games two years ago and responded with 289 yards passing and four touchdowns in a 49-0 rout of the Sooners.
Just the same, while it’s good for the top-ranked Longhorns that Ewers is back, it’s hard to say they missed him.
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Manning might be the nation’s best back-up QB. He’s certainly the best Texas has ever had. Besides arm talent that might exceed Ewers’, his mobility, speed and size give Texas another dimension.
Frankly, it felt not a little odd to write those last two paragraphs. For too much of the Longhorns’ history, especially against OU, they’ve seemed determined to prove they could win with just about any quarterback.
Hey, how about this: Let’s try Colt McCoy’s kid brother!
Sarkisian changed Texas’ thinking and priorities from Day 1, his neatest trick so far in Austin. Maybe that’s what sold Kevin Eltife on Sark in the first place. Maybe he just got tired of watching Oklahoma run out first-round picks at quarterback in the Cotton Bowl.
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Say what you want about Lincoln Riley — who might even regret beating Norman for the beach these days — but the man knows quarterbacks. Kliff Kingsbury without the shades and stubble. He layered one Heisman candidate on top of another until taking the last one with him to USC.
Caleb Williams got his start, you could say, at the State Fair. Down 21 points, Riley replaced Rattler with Williams, who went for 66 yards and a touchdown on his first play. Also threw for 212 yards in a rollicking 55-48 win.
Gabriel was just as dynamic last year, passing for 285 yards and running for 113 in one of the series’ classic finishes. Next thing you know, he’s in the portal and on his way to Oregon.
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Much speculation has centered on whether the Sooners pushed out Gabriel so Arnold could take over, which, if true, is ludicrous. Gabriel was a proven commodity. The problems Arnold had last season were the same that cost him the job this year.
The reasons cited for Gabriel’s exit were that the NFL wasn’t sold on him yet; his offensive coordinator, Jeff Lebby, had left to coach Mississippi State; and he wanted to be closer to his home in Hawaii. Reasonable enough. Certainly seemed so to Brent Venables, who told the media a couple weeks ago amid a quarterback change that he hadn’t even been aware Gabriel was thinking about staying in college until a meeting on the quarterback’s way out the door.
Venables had no concept of Gabriel’s plans because he made the cardinal sin of failing to make it a priority. Sure, Gabriel might have left anyway. But it’s incumbent on any head coach to know where his starting quarterback is at all times, mentally as well as literally.
Of course, it’s possible Hawkins rises to the occasion and beats a quarterback who has more experience, numbers and potential. Happened before. Just not lately. Now Oklahoma gets to experience life on the short end of that quarterback gap. Here’s hoping no one ends up with their head between their knees.
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