Quinn Ewers has the potential to be the first Texas quarterback to receive the Heisman Trophy.
Last year, he led the Longhorns to their best season since former quarterback Colt McCoy took the field, who nearly took home the Heisman in 2008. Ewers brought Texas to a 12–2 finish, tacking on a trip to the Sugar Bowl in New Orleans for the program’s introductory College Football Playoff appearance.
Ahead of his third year as starting quarterback, Ewers has gained an overwhelming amount of positive momentum toward what will most likely be his final campaign, as he is predicted to be a first round pick in the 2025 NFL Draft next spring. This has come in the form of NIL deals, such as being on not one, but two covers of the College Football 25 video game, being the new Deputy in the Dr. Pepper “Fansville” commercials, being selected for multiple preseason accolades and having ESPN name him as a top contender for the most prestigious award in college football.
Despite all of the hype accumulating around him, Ewers has remained unphased about his odds to land the trophy and rather prioritizes program accomplishment over his own.
“The Heisman is a great honor for sure, but you know, Coach Sark says all the time, with team success comes individual accolades,” Ewers told Fox 7 Austin at SEC Media Days back in July.
When asked about Ewers’ mentality surrounding the Heisman race during SEC Media Days, head coach Steve Sarkisian said it’s just not something that takes up a lot of space in his head.
“I think Quinn’s probably like the coolest guy in the room,” Sarkisian said. “He’s just not caught up in that stuff. When he’s here, he’s going to work, he’s working on his craft, he’s being with his teammates.”
If anything, analysts and sports media personalities might be more invested in the race than the candidates themselves. ESPN Bets currently ranks Ewers at No. 3 behind fellow quarterbacks Dillon Gabriel and Carson Beck, while others like Fox Sports’ Joel Klatt predict he could be the winner following another captivating performance.
Gabriel enters his sixth season of college football, transferring from Oklahoma to Oregon after two years with the Sooners and three with Central Florida. He threw for 3,660 passing yards and a 69.3% completion rate last year, starting in all but one game in his career.
Beck, on the other hand, sits in the driver’s seat for the No. 1 ranked Georgia Bulldogs as a senior after spending his entire college experience in Athens. He ranks third nationally and first in the SEC in passing yards after registering nearly 4,000 yards in 2023. He also ranks fourth in the nation for passing completion with a rate of 72.2%.
Ewers is hot on the heels of Gabriel, coming off a season where he threw for 3,479 yards and hit 69% of his targets and now returns to Austin for a chance to improve his statistics even more.
But Sarkisian said that Ewers isn’t looking to rack up statistics in order to see a bronze trophy at the end of the tunnel, but rather a gold one.
“He’s more focused on trying to win a championship, playing the best football he can play, being the best leader, the best teammate he can be, that’s probably more important to him than what award might be down the road,” Sarkisian said.
