College football fans were sent into a frenzy following a report that Texas Longhorns quarterback Quinn Ewers had decided to opt out of the remainder of the season to focus on preparing for the NFL Draft.
The shocking claim came from an Instagram post by the official account of 247Sports, a highly-respected sports recruiting and analysis platform.
At first glance, the post seemed legitimate, leading some to quickly spread the news across social media. However, the post was soon deleted, and it became clear the information was false.
Ewers himself swiftly responded to the rumor via his Instagram story, labeling it “fake news.” His statement immediately put an end to the speculation, but the confusion persisted until 247Sports issued an official apology.
In a statement released shortly afterward, 247Sports admitted their account had been compromised.
“The 247Sports Instagram account was hacked earlier today with a fabricated report on Quinn Ewers. We regret any negative impact,” the platform stated.
This controversy comes in the wake of Ewers’ shaky performance on the field.
The Texas quarterback had recently returned to action after missing two games due to injury, rejoining the Longhorns in-time for their massive Red River Rivalry showdown against Oklahoma on October 7.
Momentum was at a high as Ewers and the Horns headed into last Saturday’s epic clash against Kirby Smart and the Georgia Bulldogs.
Unfortunately, Ewers picked a bad time to play his worst game of the season. He was 25-of-43 for 211 passing yards, two touchdowns, one interception, and two lost fumbles in the disappointing 30-15 loss to the Bulldogs.
Despite his rough night, Ewers made it clear that he remains optimistic.
“We lost to a good team today, and I think everybody understands that,” Ewers said after the game. “Obviously not the outcome that we wanted, but there’s still a lot of football to be played.”
Despite temporarily benching Ewers during the game in favor of Arch Manning, Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian was quick to confirm that Ewers is still QB1 going forward.
“Quinn’s our starting quarterback,” Sarkisian emphasized. “I appreciate the fact we’re fortunate enough to have a backup like Arch that could come into the game and provide a spark in some sense.
“At the end of the day, Quinn’s our starter. I think, like I said, we’ve got to do a better job around him. I think he would tell you he can play better, but we’ve got to coach better. Everybody’s got to be better for our offense to perform better.”
Sark and the Longhorns have a tricky matchup this week. They travel to Nashville to take on the feisty Vanderbilt Commodores. As Alabama found out a few weeks ago, that’s not a spot to laugh at anymore.
After Vandy, Texas will return home to face the Florida Gators before finishing the regular season up with games against Arkansas, Kentucky and Texas A&M.
What are your thoughts on 247Sports getting hacked? … Did you think the report was true at first? (Hey, we may not be that far off from something like that happening.)
As for Ewers and the Longhorns, do you think they will be able to get back on track and regain their momentum and swagger? … Or did Georgia do some real permanent damage on Saturday???
