When SaRodorick Thompson broke away for a 75-yard touchdown in the fourth quarter to extend the lead to 15, Texas seemed to be out of the game. However, quarterback Sam Ehlinger told Tom Herman the Longhorns were going to score twice and win the game in overtime.
Ehlinger backed up what he told Herman, playing incredible football down the stretch. In the final two drives, excluding overtime, the senior quarterback went 6-of-7 passing for 93 yards and two touchdowns. Ehlinger added 15 rushing yards and a game-tying two-point conversion to Brennan Eagles.
In overtime, Joshua Moore caught the game-winning touchdown from Ehlinger to give Texas a 63-56 win in Lubbock.
The quarterback’s play down the stretch is one of the reasons the Longhorns won their fourth consecutive Big 12 opener. He finished with six touchdowns: five in the air and one on the ground.
Fox Sports’ college football analyst Joe Klatt has been high on Ehlinger all season, ranking him the third-best quarterback going into the season. He broke down why Ehlinger was successful in the fourth quarter against the Red Raiders.
You can watch the clip here:
"It was all about execution late."@JoelKlatt breaks down how @SEhlinger3 read the defense perfectly to complete @TexasFootball's comeback against Texas Tech đź‘Źđź‘Ź pic.twitter.com/7hLqU7z4I2
— FOX College Football (@CFBONFOX) September 30, 2020
If Texas wants to reach its goal of winning a Big 12 championship, Ehlinger will need to continue to perform the way he did against Texas Tech. Oozing confidence, the quarterback never thinks the Longhorns are out of a game.
Offensive coordinator Mike Yurcich knows he has a special quarterback and must let Ehlinger continue to thrive. Those kinds of decisions will come in handy in Texas’ bigger Big 12 matchups.
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