Fans Defend Quinn Ewers as Penix Jr., Washington Beat Texas Without Bijan Robinson

The Bijan Robinson-less Texas Longhorns fell to the Washington Huskies 27-20 in the Valero Alamo Bowl on Thursday night, but quarterback Quinn Ewers still put together one of his best performances of the season.

The freshman completed 31-of-47 passes for a career-high 369 yards, in addition to one touchdown in the loss.

Typically, the Longhorns would have relied heavily on Robinson, their junior running back, but he opted to not suit up for the game and declare for the 2023 NFL draft as he's expected to be a first-round pick.

In 2023 and beyond, Texas is going to have to rely more heavily on Ewers to lead the offense, and he gave fans plenty of hope that he can be the guy moving forward, even with the upcoming addition of Arch Manning.

Ewers, who reclassified from the 2022 recruiting class to the 2021 class, initially committed to the Ohio State Buckeyes out of high school. After riding the bench last season, he opted to enter the transfer portal, deciding Texas would be the best fit.

The 19-year-old had an up-and-down first season in Austin. Entering the Alamo Bowl, he had completed just 56.6 percent of his passes for 1,808 yards and 14 touchdowns against six interceptions.

Longhorns fans had questions about how Ewers would perform in the absence of Robinson, but Thursday's performance gave them confidence that he can lead the team to another winning season in 2023 without the star running back.