This past weekend’s Week 8 slate’s marquee game featured a storyline that swept the college football globe. Before the No. 5 Georgia Bulldogs stole their lunch money, the No. 1 Texas Longhorns were the best team in the sport. The Bulldogs’ defense’s ability to frighten quarterback Quinn Ewers was a key factor in their win.
The third-year quarterback was sacked five times, missed throws, and was uneasy in the pocket the whole game. In the latter part of the second quarter, he was benched in favor of Arch Manning. On a recent episode of “The Ryen Russillo Podcast,” NFL draft insider Todd McShay dispelled the widespread belief that head coach Steve Sarkisian was doing this to see whether Manning could spark the offense and take Ewers’ position. According to McShay, it was more of a period for Ewers to collect himself after being under continual stress. “Sark didn’t bench him (Ewers) to bench him for the rest of the game,” McShay stated. It was obvious that Sark’s only goal was to calm him down. Ewers was in control, he was doing all of the right things for two, three series. But then the series before he got benched you could tell the pressure was affecting him.
McShay remarked, “Now he’s making bad decisions,” He is now releasing the ball ahead of schedule. It was evident that Sark was saying, “Come on over here and take a deep breath.” Let’s observe from the sidelines for a moment.” McShay said that Ewers appeared more like the player we had seen in previous weeks after he returned in the second half. “You could see when he (Ewers) came back in the second half he was settled down, and the offense had settled down,” McShay stated. “They then began to move. The second half was more in line with Sark’s expectations and our general expectations. Ultimately, dude, you’re a really good defensive player, and as angry as they were, as disciplined as they were, that’s the secret sauce for Kirby smart.”
With seven sacks and four forced turnovers, it was by far Georgia’s finest defensive performance of the season. Even though Ewers’ strong second half helped to improve his stat line, it was still a subpar performance. He finished the game with a QBR of 23.9, averaging 4.9 yards per game, and completing 24 of 43 for 211 yards four touchdowns and an interception. Additionally, Ewers only completed five passes longer than ten yards. On Saturday, he will try to recover against Vanderbilt, ranked No. 25, whose defense is far from Georgia’s.
The quarterback dispute between Ewers and Manning can be resolved if he can get back to his previous level of play, but if he has trouble, the game is done.