The Texas Longhorns may have to use Arch Manning as a starter for the first time in the redshirt freshman’s college career, as head coach Steve Sarkisian described Heisman candidate Quinn Ewers as "questionable" this week against Louisiana-Monroe, per Yahoo Sports.
Ewers went down in the second quarter against UTSA with what Texas called a strained abdomen. Ewers was in clear discomfort as he walked off the field, as Manning jumped off the bench to lead the way on offense for him.
When Ewers returned from the locker room, he was in street clothes — a clear indication that his day was done after going 14-for-16 for 185 yards with two touchdowns and an interception.
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The injury was not a contact injury, which is usually a cause for concern for any athlete. Ewers said that the pain developed when he threw a 49-yard completed pass to his tight end, Gunnar Helm, and the hand-off on the following play to his running back confirmed the injury.
"On the release, he just feels it, you know?" Sarkisian said of the pass play by Ewers, per The Athletic. "I think what he thought was, it was just going to kind of go away, so he stayed in for one more play and then realized, ‘I probably need to get this looked at. This doesn’t feel right.'"
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If Ewers does have to miss a game, Sarkisian is likely very confident in getting the job done against Louisiana-Monroe, as Manning had himself quite a game after entering the game against UTSA.
Manning made an immediate impact when he found DeAndre Moore Jr. for a 19-yard touchdown on his first drive. Then, he used his legs to pick up a 67-yard touchdown run.
Overall, Manning had four touchdown passes thrown and 223 yards on 9-of-12 passing.
If it does come to Ewers needing to miss time, it will be the third straight season he’s had to be sidelined due to injury. In 2023, a season where the Longhorns made the College Football Playoff, Ewers missed two games with an AC joint sprain, but it wasn’t Manning who backed him up.
Maalik Murphy, who transferred to Duke University this offseason, was Ewers’ backup last season.
Ewers will remain "week to week," according to Sarkisian, but it’s certainly worth monitoring what the Longhorns will do this week in terms of who will run their offense.
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