ANN ARBOR, Mich. — Watch quarterback Quinn Ewers sing the fight song now on Michigan’s home turf. Watch him greet the away fans as they descend onto the field from their seats at the scoreboard. Watch him spell/signal his school’s letters in enemy territory, just like we always imagined.
“T!” “E!” “X!” “A!” “S!”
Odd spelling of Ohio. Buckeyes fans celebrated a win — or at least rejoiced in a loss — as Ewers led Texas to a 31-12 victory over Michigan on Saturday. Every Michigan loss is an Ohio State win. But a Michigan loss is like Christmas in Columbus, no matter the setting or the jersey colors. But when that loss ends a 23-game home winning streak? Jingle Bells. When it’s led by a former Ohio State player?
The icing on the fruit cake.
“I understand the rivalry between Ohio State and Michigan and I want to take that with me all week,” Ewers said. “I know how that works, so it’s definitely cool to come back here because the last time I was here, things weren’t going so well for the team I was with.”
Hear that last part? Do you realize that’s not being acknowledged? That means Buckeyes fans can’t claim Ewers as theirs now, three seasons after he transferred from Ohio State to Texas, just because he took the pound of Michigan flesh that OSU fans crave. Nor can they take back the mean tweets and direct messages that were posted when Ewers decided to leave Columbus. And you can’t convince anyone (especially me) that Buckeyes fans believed Ewers would reach similar heights at Texas — if not higher — than Ohio State did without him.
However, you can apologize. Own your mistakes. Admit you were wrong. After Ewers completed 24 of 36 passes (67%) for 246 yards and three touchdowns at Michigan Stadium, now seems like a good time.
Don’t be embarrassed: College football fans are crazy, and Buckeye fans believe (in most cases, correctly) that no other school does a better job of nurturing quarterback success than Ohio State. Only Alabama has tallied as many first-round picks (three) since Ryan Day arrived on campus in 2017. And only Bama and Georgia entered Saturday with more wins than OSU (54) since Day became full-time coach in 2019. Given those facts, I understand why parts of Buckeye Nation lost the plot when Ewers moved to Texas (41 wins, zero first-round quarterbacks since 2019).
He’s crazy! He can’t win there. He’s going for the money!
He’s not. He did. And he may have made some money, but the decision pays off either way. Ohio State may win more games than Texas, but Ewers is the only quarterback to have road wins at Alabama and Michigan in his college football career (unless you count Joe Burrow, who watched from the sidelines as OSU beat Michigan in 2017 before transferring to LSU).
Texas is the only school on Ewers’ record to win a conference championship during his tenure, and if things continue this way, the former Buckeye could become the Longhorns’ first-round quarterback since Vince Young in 2006 next spring.
Just as we always imagined, right?
“It was definitely a little different when I was just sitting on the sidelines (in 2021),” Ewers said. “But … I understand what a big moment it was, just because I’ve been here before and I know what the atmosphere was like. It was pretty loud in the first quarter, that’s for sure.”
And after that? Not so much. The Michigan fans left early. The Texas fans took over. Ewers sang with them.
Buckeye fans wanted to sing Christmas carols, but they should skip this one. Take the win and revel in an ugly loss for The Team Up North. But remember why Ewers called OSU The Team I Was On afterward.
Don’t be embarrassed: They thought he was crazy for leaving OSU’s quarterback factory. They didn’t think he could win against underachieving Texas. They thought only money could drive him away.
But look at him now: Ewers has improved every season at Texas, while Ohio State has rotated through three starters since he left. He embarrassed Michigan at the Big House on Saturday, while Ohio State is still recovering from three straight losses at UM. And regardless of why Ewers left, you can’t say he made a bad decision.
However, you can apologize, explain your mistake, and admit that you were wrong.
