Ehlinger receives national, conference honors
AUSTIN, Texas — Texas quarterback Sam Ehlinger was honored for his standout performance in the Texas Longhorns’ 63-56 win Saturday at Texas Tech. After piling up 331 total yards — 262 through the air and 69 rushing — and six total touchdowns, five of which came on scoring passes,
Senior quarterback Sam Ehlinger was Ehlinger was named to the Davey O’Brien Award’s Great 8 list for the fifth time in his career, a Manning Award Star of the Week and the Big 12 Co-Offensive Player of the Week Monday.
The game was the second in a row in which Ehlinger threw five touchdown passes, a feat never accomplished previously by a Texas quarterback. It also was the first time in his career that Ehlinger accounted for six touchdowns in a single game.
Through the Longhorns’ first two games of the season, Ehlinger has been as efficient as he has been productive, completing 52 of his 73 passes (71.2 percent) for 688 yards, 10 touchdowns and just a single interception. Add in his 81 yards and one touchdown and he has 769 yards of total offense and 11 total touchdowns. His 11 total scores are the most by a Longhorn in a two-game stretch since Ricky Williams set an NCAA record with 11 rushing touchdowns over a two-game stretch against Rice (six touchdowns) and Iowa State (five) during his Heisman Trophy-winning campaign.
His 10 passing touchdowns and 68 points responsible for are the most among all Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) players so far this season. He ranks second in the country for points responsible for per game (34.0), sixth in total offense (384.5), seventh in passing yards per game (344.0) and completions per game (26.0) and eighth in passing efficiency (192.9). His 10 passing touchdowns through two games are the most in school history, and he is the first Power Five quarterback since USC’s Matt Barkley in 2012 to record double-digit touchdown passes in his team’s first two games of the season. Purdue’s Curtis Painter (2007) is the only other Power Five quarterback to hit that mark since 2000.
The Davey O’Brien Award will announce the National Quarterback of the Week from the list of the eight featured quarterbacks Wednesday; the Manning Award will do so Thursday.
