Last week, Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian opted to bring in Arch Manning to replace Quinn Ewers briefly in their matchup against Georgia. And as far as former Alabama star quarterback Greg McElroy sees it, Sarkisian didn’t do either Manning or Ewers any favors with this decision.
Texas fans have been entirely split on whether Ewers or Manning should be the full-time starter for the remainder of the season. And that debate was even further sparked by Sarkisian bringing in Manning off the bench last week.
Ultimately, neither quarterback had all that much success against the stout Georgia defense. But according to McElroy, Sarkisian has now opened the door to Ewers looking over his shoulder the rest of the season, which could impact his play.
“You have to force your starting quarterback into feeling comfortable,” McElroy said on the most recent episode of his Always College Football podcast. “I know Arch goes in, brief spark. Had the nice run then you just see he’s still a young player. It just wasn’t the right time to do it. Well, now Pandora’s box has been opened because Steve Sarkisian showed that he is not afraid to replace Quinn Ewers in favor of Arch Manning in the event in which Quinn Ewers struggles.
“That’s a problem. Because now first series of the game, Quinn Ewers starts 1-for-3 you’re going to start hearing chants of Arch Manning with who the backup is and the celebrity status that he carries, I would’ve avoided that.”
Sarkisian has already made it clear that Ewers will be the starter moving forward. But despite this, last week was a moment of indecisiveness from him that clearly didn’t help matters.
About Reice Shipley
Reice Shipley is a staff writer for Comeback Media that graduated from Ithaca College with a degree in Sports Media. He previously worked at Barrett Sports Media and is a fan of all things Syracuse sports.