On Aug. 31, the Texas Longhorns kicked off their 2019 season against the Louisiana Tech Bulldogs. Junior quarterback Sam Ehlinger enters the 2019 campaign with about as much Heisman hype as any player in the Big 12, barring Oklahoma Sooners senior quarterback Jalen Hurts.
However, how does Ehlinger stack up with the rest of the quarterbacks in the state of Texas?
College football is stacked at quarterback in the Lone Star State in 2019. Texas A&M Aggies junior dual-threat quarterback Kellen Mond is a budding star in the SEC West. He got off to a good start this season against a hapless Texas State Bobcats defense on Aug. 29. Mond registered just over 200 total yards and four touchdowns before getting replaced with Texas A&M up big. He helped the Aggies top the Bobcats by the final score of 41-7.
The Texas Tech Red Raiders and Baylor Bears also have talented starting quarterbacks this year. Sophomore Alan Bowman is coming off a freshman season that was devastated by a collapsed lung injury. He comes back at full health with a first-year head coach, Matt Wells, and is hoping for a second-year breakout himself.
Meanwhile, Baylor has a quarterback amid the best in the Big 12. Junior Charlie Brewer racked up 3,019 passing yards and 26 total touchdowns in 2018. He is a popular pick to be a breakout star in the Big 12 this fall.
Furthermore, the rest of the top crop of signal-callers in-state hail from Group of Five programs. Houston Cougars senior D’Eriq King now has a big-name head coach that can spark the offense with the offseason hiring of Dana Holgorsen. North Texas Mean Green senior Mason Fine also has a favorable situation with his head coach, with potential Power Five coaching candidate Seth Littrell.
Ehlinger helped to further the hype with the Longhorns in the midst of a drubbing of Louisiana Tech by the final score of 45-14. He tied a career-high by tossing four touchdowns, to go along with 276 passing yards and no interceptions. Texas faces LSU next week behind nine combined touchdowns from Ehlinger and LSU senior quarterback Joe Burrow. LSU beat the Georgia Southern Eagles in Week 1 by a score of 55-3.
If Ehlinger continues to progress as he did in the 31-point win over Louisiana Tech, he will continue his ascent to the top of the college football landscape among quarterbacks. For now, he’s proven that he’s the best quarterback in the state of Texas through one week of action.
