Questions abound about Big 12 Conference QBs
Big 12 football has many quarterback questions this week. Who will play? Who should be playing? Why wasn’t someone playing earlier? This late in the season, most teams are settled at QB. But several Big 12 teams are uncertain as November nears.
Was Ehlinger rattled vs. OU & OSU?
Texas quarterback Sam Ehlinger is in concussion protocol, which makes his availability uncertain for the Longhorns’ game Saturday at Baylor. But this we know. Two straight weeks, Ehlinger has been hit hard and ended the game with dubious decision-making that calls into question his mental state.
Last Saturday in overtime against Oklahoma State, needing only a field goal to extend the game, Ehlinger lobbed a pass not close to any Longhorn receiver on a 3rd-and-4 play in which OSU’s Ramon Richards easily intercepted. The Cowboys won 13-10.
The week before, trailing Oklahoma in the final two minutes, Ehlinger scrambled on a 4th-and-13 play and intentionally threw the ball out of bounds. The Sooners won 29-24.
Has Ehlinger finished either game in his right mind?
“I hope by now we all know that the coach’s role in that is very, very limited, if any,” UT coach Tom Herman said. “So my understanding is he was cleared, symptom free the entire week. The Oklahoma game, obviously, he was cleared enough to go back in the game, and then at some point during the game against Oklahoma State, something happened. It was something that came up after the game ... that’s when the medical guys kind of noticed something off.”
Herman said sophomore quarterback Shane Buechele, who suffered an ankle injury that allowed Ehlinger to take over the job, looks better than he has all season. “Last week, I saw a lot more zip on his throws ... he hadn’t been pushing off of it very well in weeks prior to that,” Herman said. “When he runs, it’s not a like gallop like it was. You can notice ... a big heavy brace, but other than that, he did good yesterday.”
Baylor’s Brewer shines
Baylor lost another football game Saturday night. But did the Bears find a quarterback?
When true freshman Charlie Brewer came on the field in the fourth quarter, West Virginia led the Bears 38-13 and Baylor was headed for its seventh straight defeat. But when Brewer left the field, he was a folk hero, albeit in defeat. The Mountaineers held on for a 38-36 victory, turning back a 2-point conversion with 17 seconds left after a Brewer-led comeback.
Brewer completed eight of 13 passes for 109 yards and two touchdowns; he also rushed 10 times for 48 yards.
“I thought it was gutty,” said Baylor coach Matt Rhule. “I thought it was tough. All the things we kind of know about Charlie. He’s a heady, fiery, competitive-type guy. He kept plays alive with his feet. So I was proud of him.”
Brewer is from Austin’s Lake Travis High School, Baker Mayfield’s alma mater. Brewer’s older brother, Michael Brewer, was a Texas Tech teammate of Mayfield’s, before Mayfield transferred to OU and Brewer to Virginia Tech. The Brewers’ father, Robert Brewer, was a University of Texas quarterback in 1981 and 1982.
Baylor quarterback Zach Smith completed 16 of 27 passes for 261 yards but was a sitting duck for West Virginia’s pass rush. Rhule made the switch in part to protect Smith.
“Anytime you have a guy who can run and keep plays alive with his feet, that helps,” Rhule said. “They have to be a good enough passer to make that a threat. You’re hopeful that you have some guys that can keep some plays alive.”
Still, Rhule said that Smith would start “if we played today.” But Saturday against Texas?
“We’ll practice today and tomorrow,” Rhule said. “We’ll see if Charlie can pick up where he left off. Our whole program is based on competition.”
Should Delton start for KSU?
Kansas State quarterback Jesse Ertz is expected to be healthy for the Wildcats’ game against Kansas on Saturday. If so, says K-State coach Bill Snyder, Ertz will start.
But should he? In Ertz’s absence, sophomore Alex Delton played well. He ran for 79 yards on 12 carries in a double-overtime loss against Texas, and Delton was phenomenal in a 42-35 loss to OU, gaining 142 yards on 27 carries and completing 12 of 14 passes for 144 yards. Delton accounted for four touchdowns.
Snyder said Ertz would start “if he’s 100 percent healthy, which we anticipate he will be.” Delton’s development “just allows me to feel as though we have two good young guys at the position that we can feel comfortable with either one of them in the ballgame.”
Ertz is hardly young. He’s a fifth-year senior. Delton is a third-year sophomore from Hays, Kansas. His passing has been a work in progress — he’s completed 52.1 percent, with just one touchdown and one interception — but it hurt the Sooners. The job eventually will be Delton’s. Maybe it should be now.
KU gains 21 total yards
When you’re Kansas football of the last decade, it’s hard to hit a new low. But the Jayhawks did just that last Saturday in a 43-0 loss at TCU. Not only did Kansas suffer its 44th straight road loss, tying a major-college record, but the Jayhawks posted 21 total yards, the lowest by a Division I-A team in 20 years.
According to ESPN, the previous low in the past 20 years was 27 by Florida International at Louisville in 2013. TCU outgained Kansas 305-3 in the first half. The dubious total yardage was helped by the decision to go to a running clock early in the fourth quarter, but still.
Jayhawk coach David Beaty remained upbeat, saying, “The situation we’re in is tough, but we’re tougher. We’ve got to pick out a few things that we can do well. And then we’ve got to really, really practice them and get good at them so we have something to go to and be able to create some offense for us. That’s a challenge that rests on my shoulders.”