Texas’ stunning 34-24 upset of host Alabama on Saturday night vaulted the Longhorns into the College Football Playoff conversation and quarterback Quinn Evers squarely into the Heisman Trophy race.
Ewers, who finished 24-for-38 passing for 349 yards and three touchdowns against the No. 3 Crimson Tide (1-1). His odds on FanDuel Sportsbook to win the Heisman Trophy dipped from +2200 earlier in the week to +1000 (bet $10 to win $110 total) after Texas (2-0) snapped Alabama’s 21-game home winning streak.
“We knew this whole week if we came in here, we were going to ball out. We were going to try to make them quit,” Ewers told ESPN after the game. “God is so good. I can’t say nothing else. How much God has put me through, he’s made me so strong. I’m so proud of my team, my whole defense, we balled out. I’m fired up for the rest of the way.”
Ewers, whose performance boosted Texas seven spots to No. 4 in the latest AP Top 25 poll, moved from sixth to fourth (+1000) on FanDuel’s Heisman odds list, trailing three other quarterbacks: front-runner Caleb Williams of USC (+390), Washington’s Michael Penix Jr. (+850) and Florida State’s Jordan Travis (+850). Texas is also fourth alongside Florida State in FanDuel’s odds to win it all, behind Georgia (+230), Michigan (+460) and Ohio State (+1000).
“I don’t think the moment was too big for him,” Texas coach Steve Sarkisian said of Ewers. “From the moment the ball got snapped he showed great composure. There were times his feet got choppy in the pocket, but we got him settled down.
“I thought he managed the line of scrimmage really good. To be in this environment and not have one false start is a credit to Quinn managing things. It’s not like we lined up in static formations. There were shifts and motions and that’s a credit for our guys to manage all that.”
Over at DraftKings, Ewers was at +2200 to take home the Heisman, but after the Longhorns’ win over the Crimson Tide, he’s at +1000. As for Texas’ odds in the College Football Playoff, the Longhorns are at +1000 along with Florida State and Ohio State, trailing only Georgia (+240) and Michigan (+500), moving up from +2500 before Saturday’s game.
Elsewhere, Texas (+1100) vaulted to fourth in the odds to win the national championship on BetMGM, behind Georgia (+200), Michigan (+500) and Ohio State (+900). Ewers (+1000) now trails only Williams (+350), Travis (+850) and Penix (+850) in BetMGM’s odds to take home the Heisman.
–Field Level Media