Red River dance one last chance for Ehlinger to solidify his legacy
AUSTIN — In the midst of a question about Texas quarterback Sam Ehlinger’s final battle against Oklahoma at the Cotton Bowl, Texas coach Tom Herman cut in.
“How do you know that?” Herman said, tittering. “You know something I don’t know?”
Herman was kidding around, of course. But maybe there was a bit of dreamy hope buried within the quip — that Ehlinger might
actually return for a fifth season under a one-time NCAA measure granting an extra year of eligibility to all fall sports athletes, even if they play in 2020.
Still, the general consensus is
Saturday will mark Ehlinger’s fourth and final appearance in the Red River Showdown. He’ll be just the fifth quarterback all-time to start four straight seasons in a rivalry game that’s older than the state of Oklahoma.
“The guy exemplifies everything you want as a member of this program, and to be able to jog out there one more time with him,” Herman said Monday. “Yeah, it’s gonna be pretty special. It’s something that I’ll make sure that that I soak in.”
No. 22 Texas (2-1, 1-1 Big 12) needs Ehlinger to deliver in his series finale much as he did as a sophomore two years ago when he accounted for 386 yards of offense and five touchdowns in a 48-45 victory. And for once, the Longhorns will enter this game with an edge in experience at quarterback.
In 2017, it was Ehlinger
versus Heisman winner Baker Mayfield. The following year featured two bouts between Ehlinger and Heisman winner Kyler Murray, with Texas falling in the revived Big 12 championship. Last season pitted Ehlinger against Heisman runner-up Jalen Hurts.
This time Ehlinger will duel redshirt freshman Spencer Rattler, the consensus No. 1 quarterback in the class of 2019. It will feel like a reversal of 2017, when a true freshman out of Austin Westlake went titfor-tat with Mayfield, then a redshirt senior.
Asked what he’d tell “Freshman Sam” if given a time machine, Ehlinger said, “Good luck, because you’re probably going to go against in a four-year period one of the best stretches of quarterback play at a single university.”
He added, “But no, I would tell him to enjoy it. Enjoy every single moment of the atmosphere, especially now this year that we won’t have full capacity.
Don’t take the atmosphere for granted.”
What Ehlinger hasn’t enjoyed this season is the Longhorns’ sloppy play. Discipline — a startling lack of it — was the difference in a 33-31 home loss to TCU last Saturday, and the national leader in passing touchdowns (14) used the following morning for a discussion with teammates.
He emphasized the
desperation Texas needs to play with, how winning is what he covets most and why the Longhorns’ play this season hasn’t mirrored that raging desire.
“I was kind of challenging guys to understand that aspect of it, to step up and take ownership of the program, and the details of discipline,” Ehlinger said Tuesday. “And if you don’t like somebody because they’re pushing you because they want to win, then that person, I mean, I have problem with somebody that doesn’t want to win.”
Ever since Ehlinger arrived in January 2017, about a month after Herman replaced Charlie Strong, Texas has needed his heroics on stages like this. And he’s been mostly phenomenal when facing Oklahoma, amassing 1,151 passing yards with five touchdowns and two interceptions, 215 rushing yards and eight rushing touchdowns.
But the most important
statistic is Ehlinger’s record against Oklahoma (1-2). Knocking off the Sooners, even during a down year, would add to his legacy and keep Texas in contention for a berth in the Big 12 championship at AT&T Stadium — a loss would mar his reputation.
It all comes back to discipline. The coaches need to do a better job instilling it, the Longhorns need to do a better job embracing it.
Texas can’t allow the Sooners to sack Ehlinger nine times, like it did in last year’s 34-27 loss. Ehlinger can’t miss receivers or throw interceptions, like he did in the loss to TCU. And Longhorns on both sides of the ball can’t continue accumulating penalties that either kill their own drives or extend the opponent’s.
“We have the talent, that’s not the issue,” Ehlinger said. “We get in our own way. And we can eliminate that by being disciplined in every single thing that we do. And discipline is not a switch that you flip on Saturdays. Discipline is something that you work on every single day. And it starts with how you get out of bed in the morning.”
Ehlinger will hop out of his hotel bed Saturday morning, throw on a suit and board the team bus for (probably) his last ride into a Fair Park as the Texas starting quarterback.
It should be an emotional day, and there will be time to let it all pour out in the aftermath. Though given what’s at stake, Ehlinger is approaching this final tilt against Oklahoma with a cold-blooded mindset.
“The biggest thing is winning,” Ehlinger said. “Making sure that everybody’s on the same page, being attentive to detail and disciplined is my biggest duty this week. We’ll try to eliminate emotion from that.”