Texas Longhorns quarterback Quinn Ewers has already made it big in the gridiron. Ahead of his third year with the program, Ewers has appeared on the cover of EA College Football 2025 (along with Donovan Edwards and Travis Hunter) and has now gotten his name on the preseason watch list for the Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award. The Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award “annually recognizes the top senior or upperclassman quarterback set to graduate with their class.”

Ewers, returning as the starting QB for the Longhorns, was the man who took the fans through a thrilling season that saw Texas storm to a Big 12 championship and punch their ticket to the College Football Playoff with an impressive 12-1 record. As Ewers gets ready for another incredible football season, here’s the academic journey of the Texas quarterback with an iconic white mullet.

From High School Hero to College Star

But it all began at Carroll Senior High School in Southlake, Texas for the now potential Heisman Trophy-worthy QB. A consensus top player overall nationally, Ewers was coached by Riley Dodge. Carroll Senior High School is famous for its premier football program. A football powerhouse that is home to one of the top football teams in the nation, the Texas school has cranked out a bunch of NFL players too. And Quinn Ewers was a star at Carroll Senior High, lighting it up on the football field. With insane high school stats of 6,445 passing yards, 73 touchdowns, and just eight interceptions on 450-of-643 attempts (that’s a 70% completion rate!), Ewers had also been a 2020 Landry Award finalist. An elite “improvisational QB”, Ewers also racked up 701 rushing yards and 12 touchdowns on 115 carries. All that in just 22 games as the QB. Quinn Ewers is THE guy!

All those mad football stats might have you wondering about his academics. And that’s fair. While football has always been the main thing for Ewers, he didn’t completely slack off in school. He had good enough grades. Even when he was still in school, though, Ewers was already planning about college ball—the next level. Graham Harrell offered Ewers a football scholarship when he was just in the sixth grade. In fact, at the age of 18, the 6-foot-3 and 207-pound QB wrapped up his high school career early, skipping his senior year to start Ohio State’s 2021 class as one of the most compelling recruits in school history. Ewers completed his graduation coursework online before he joined Ohio State. Ewers also became the first football prospect to hopscotch from high school to college early to take the benefits of NIL. 

They say, ” Talent recognizes talent.” That’s what happened when head coach Riley Dodge, who himself has been a quarterback for Southlake, first saw Quinn throw the football. “I was pretty excited that a guy like Graham Harrell saw something like that in one
of our quarterbacks,” said Riley Dodge, who knew what magic Ewers could do at Dragons stadium. “When I finally saw him throw the ball, I knew why. I saw it right away. His talent jumped off the grass quickly.”  A five-star talent, Ewers, wasn’t just any five-star talent; he was THE five-star talent, the most hyped quarterback prospect since Trevor Lawrence. The only other player besides Ewers and Lawrence to earn a perfect rating from 247Sports was Vince Young. The multi-dimensional athlete also played baseball at Southlake Carroll.

Ewers and Texas– A match made in gridiron heaven

Ohio State was not the first choice of the elite QB, as he always wanted to play for the Longhorns. Even as a kid, young Ewers used to dress up in a Longhorns jersey and play as a Longhorns player. Ewers’ dream came true when he eventually transferred to Texas, where he’s now the quarterback everyone’s watching. The elite QB Ewers started in 12 games last fall and threw for 3,479 yards on 272 completions (69.0%). He also tossed 22 touchdowns and only six interceptions. In addition, he rushed 59 times for 75 yards and five touchdowns. Ewers’ 3,479 passing yards rank fourth in Longhorns’ history for a single season, and his 272  of 394 completions put him sixth. He even had six 300-yard passing games, the most of any in a single season at Texas.

The biggest win, however, came for Ewers when he charged against No. 3 Alabama with 24-of-38 passing for 349 yards and three touchdowns. Longhorns’ victory against Crimson Tide snapped Alabama’s 21-game home winning streak, ended their 57-game regular-season win streak against non-conference teams, and was the first double-digit home loss for Nick Saban since he became the Crimson Tide’s head coach in 2007!  Ewers was the first non-SEC QB to pass for over 250 yards and two touchdowns against legendary Saban’s Alabama squad. As the fall season begins, it’s only a matter of time until the absolute unit of a QB smashes more records and makes even bigger waves, isn’t it?