Surprise star of the weekend: Sam Ehlinger

Sam Ehlinger was one of the most highly touted quarterbacks in the country coming out of Westlake high school last year. A four-star prospect, Ehlinger committed to Texas when Charlie Strong still had the reigns to the program. When Tom Herman took over, he was able to keep Ehlinger on board even with quarterback Shane Buechele coming back. But with Buechele returning and earning the starting job in the spring, surely the Longhorns wouldn’t need Ehlinger’s services in a big moment this season, right? Wrong. Buechele was forced to the sidelines for the second straight week with a shoulder injury, and Ehlinger got the start for Texas in what was by far the biggest game of his young career. He didn’t start great, and really didn’t do anything special through the first three quarters. But he was able to keep the Longhorns in a game many expected USC to dominate, and gave Texas a chance late in the fourth quarter. That’s when he grabbed the headlines. Sure, No. 4 USC outmuscled the Longhorns in double overtime and snuck out of the Coliseum with a 27-24 win. But Texas trailed 14-10 and was facing second-and-17 from it’s own 2-yard line with 4:02 remaining going up against one of the top teams in the country. Ehlinger stepped up and drove the Longhorns 98 yards, completing a huge 47-yard pass to Collin Johnson to move inside the 30-yard line with 1:41 remaining. Then, Ehlinger somehow fit an 11-yard bullet between tight coverage to Armanti Foreman on fourth-and-10 to keep the team’s hopes alive. With 0:45 left on the clock, Ehlinger made the best throw of the night when he found Foreman for a 17-yard touchdown to the give Texas a 17-14 lead. The Trojans went down and scored on the ensuing possession behind the play of Heisman hopeful Sam Darnold to send the game to overtime. USC eventually forced an Ehlinger fumble in the second overtime and won the game on a field goal, but make no mistake – Ehlinger’s performance Saturday night injected some life into Herman’s program. The Longhorns played their best overall game in several years on a big stage, and proved there is more to this team than the 51-41 Week 1 loss to Maryland. Ehlinger, who finished 21-40 for 298 yards and two touchdowns, was a big part of that, earning the designation as our surprise star of the week.

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