Thinking of simpler times allows Quinn Ewers to stay calm in big moments

AUSTIN (KXAN) — Texas quarterback Quinn Ewers has played plenty of big games in three seasons with the Longhorns. To stay calm and ease his nerves, he distills the complicated collegiate game into something nostalgic and simple.

"I try to treat it like I'm back in pee-wee football, just enjoy the game," he said during Peach Bowl media day Monday. "Obviously, you can't really do that anymore, I just try to look at it like that."

It's easy to get nervous and anxious about a game with the magnitude of the College Football Playoff quarterfinal. Having a mindset that the game — at its core — is the same game it has always been, gives it some perspective.

Making the game bigger than it is can lead to uncharacteristic mistakes and derail a game plan, so treating it like the good ol' days when your helmet was maybe a little too big or the pads made you look like a robot is a way to take some stress off.

Ewers often reflects on his time with the Longhorns, and while he hasn't said publicly if he'll declare for the NFL Draft, transfer or remain at Texas when the Longhorns' season is over, he said he'll remember off-the-field moments more than the ones on the field.

"I think just the small moments with my teammates in the locker room and in the weight room and on the practice field. Those are the moments that I feel like I'm going to remember for a lifetime," he said. "Not what happened against Arkansas with ten minutes left in the second quarter. I'm going to remember what happened on the bus or on the plane after that."

A loss to Arizona State on New Year's Day could be the last time Ewers plays in burnt orange. He's trying to soak in everything about this season from moving to the Southeastern Conference to making the CFP again and everything in between.

"I'm super thankful for everything that's happened this year," he said. "Everything is a learning experience and everything is a learning moment, and I'm just proud of how this team always continues to bounce back from adversity. Everything that we've done together in the off-season and the summer and in fall camp and in spring ball, it's like this is the reason that we all get up every morning and continue to kill our bodies every single day."