Ehlinger is curbing his takeoff mentality
QB determined to be patient in pocket, go through progression
AUSTIN — The chase used to drive Breckyn Hager mad, especially since he wasn’t permitted to corral the freshman quarterback made invulnerable by a black no-contact jersey.
“Dude,” Hager groused countless times, “throw the ball.”
It took awhile for the message to land.
Sam Ehlinger was skittish in the face of pressure, and old habits die hard. At Austin Westlake, he could escape the pocket and tear down the field almost without repercussion. Too quick for front-seven beasts, too powerful for defensive backs, Ehlinger rushed for 2,395 career yards and 35 touchdowns during his time as Chaparrals quarterback.
He leaned on his legs plenty last year, too. Ehlinger led Texas with 381 rushing yards and ran for 107 and 110 in back-to-back weeks against Kansas State and Oklahoma. He seemed the ideal dualthreat prospect for coach Tom Herman to groom. But Ehlinger continuously flirted with an overreliance on his legs.
At times, it seemed Ehlinger was too enamored of his getaway ability to even consider letting a dead play die. His resolve was admirable, but eventually, he was forced to learn to live for another play.
Coaches and teammates believe that realization fully washed over Ehlinger this offseason. He does, too.
“Now I understand the offense and understand that taking a 4yard completion is a positive,” Ehlinger said Tuesday. “That’s a great thing at this level.
“I think in high school, it’s like, ‘Oh, 4-yard gain. Eh.’ But at the college level on first down, if you get a 4- to 5-yard completion, that’s a great play. So understanding that and understanding the game at a higher level, a more advanced level, has helped.”
‘Film junkie’
Hager, who lives with Ehlinger and tight ends Cade Brewer and Andrew Beck, praised his quarterback roommate as a “film junkie.” Ehlinger spent hours upon hours diagnosing weaknesses from a freshman campaign in which he completed 58 percent of his passes for 1,915 yards and 11 touchdowns with seven interceptions.
Many of his woes, Ehlinger discovered, stemmed from an overreliance on the same legs that made him the No. 4 dual-threat quarterback in the 2017 recruiting cycle. He didn’t need to abandon that weapon entirely, just strategize a new way to utilize that running ability in conjunction with his arm.
That process required Ehlinger to recalibrate a long-ingrained mindset. A year of maturation and growth in the same system, surrounded by the same coaches and many of the same teammates, helped expedite that philosophical change.
“It’s definitely understanding the offense and not freaking out when there’s a little bit of pressure in the pocket,” he said. “And that comes with experience and knowing we’ve got really good guys up front and they’re at the University of Texas to protect me.
“Now I’m able to go all the way through my progression and go through four receivers, as opposed to just one and then taking off. And that’s part of the understanding of the offense and the experience with live bullets coming at you.”
Teammates also testified to the QB’s transformation. Left guard Patrick Vahe and wide receiver Collin Johnson both hailed Ehlinger as a more mature, confident player, especially as a forceful leader in the huddle. Center Zach Shackelford said he trusts Ehlinger is the man for the job.
As for Hager, the senior defensive end is doing less chasing these days. He hasn’t had to shout commands to his practice prey, either.
Sign of development
“I see him throw the ball and not run the ball, which is a huge sign that he’s developed as a quarterback,” Hager said Tuesday. “He’s going through all his check-downs; he’s waiting and no longer learning the offense. He knows the offense, and now he’s executing it at a high level.”
On Saturday, Ehlinger will lead Texas against Maryland at FedExField. It’s a chance for a fresh start, both for the program and the man tasked with leading it.
“I’m really excited to be able to kind of set the tone for who we’re going to be in 2018,” Ehlinger said. “I thing to go into this kind of with a clean slate, with an empty mindset of what happened last year — obviously, it wasn’t what we wanted it to be — but to be able to move forward and kind of set our own tone for what we want it to be this year is really exciting.”