MANHATTAN BEACH, Calif. – All eyes lingered on him.
“In the Big House,” one of the Elite 11 coaches said for all in the vicinity to hear, referring to Michigan's football stadium.
Quinn Ewers, under center from the 10-yard line, called for the snap and took it. The five-star Ohio State quarterback commit took a five-step drop, planted his right foot on the 15-yard line, crow-hopped and delivered a high strike to the receiver crashing across the back of the end zone.
The wideout leaped and caught the pass, though he couldn't get his feet in bounds. For the coaches, the ball – thrown with touch – was good enough.
“That's in the Big House,” the coach yelled again.
That was the last of Ewers' throws in Thursday evening's pro day workout in which he shined. Nearly everything he threw was on target as people watching from the sideline oohed and aahed as he progressed down the field.
All of the quarterbacks at the Elite 11 Finals on Thursday competed – or are still competing in – the pro day workout, which is designed to look like the types of pre-NFL draft workouts staged at a quarterback's university. Here, all signal-callers use the same script of throws from the same parts of the field to compete on a level playing field.
Ewers has one more day – on Friday morning – to make a case to win the Elite 11 Finals MVP.