The Texas Longhorns cannot afford to lose to the Texas A&M Aggies on Saturday.
There is a strong possibility that the loser of the game will be eliminated from the new-look 12-team college football playoff format. With so much at stake, the Longhorns’ quarterback controversy is rearing its ugly head again.
Quinn Ewers began the season as the Longhorns’ starter, but when he went down with an injury, Sophomore Arch Manning stepped in and elevated the offense immediately.
Head coach Steve Sarkisian gave Ewers the job back after he was healthy again, but he has been inconsistent in his action since. Ewers struggled so deeply in the team’s loss to the Georgia Bulldogs that Sarkisian went back to Manning at the end of the first half, before handing the ball back to Ewers in the second half.
Unfortunately for Ewers, he’s still providing the Longhorns with uneven play, and the fanbase and media members in Austin, Texas are growing restless and the calls for a switch are getting louder.
Ewers has been providing serviceable enough production, but things seem a long way from what the team will need if it wants to finish the season with the heavily coveted national championship trophy.
With a player of Manning’s caliber poised and waiting in the wings, there’s a strong chance Sarkisian will have to make the cutthroat decision to make a quarterback switch late in the season despite the team’s stellar record.
It’ll be interesting to see how things unfold if Ewers struggles early against the Aggies.
