The Texas Longhorns have made it clear that Quinn Ewers will be the starting quarterback for the rest of the season over redshirt freshman Arch Manning. But on Saturday, the Longhorns briefly inserted Manning into one of the worst situations you can be put in against one of the best teams in the country.
Trailing by 20 points in the second quarter against the No. 5 ranked Georgia Bulldogs, Texas decided to put in Arch Manning to potentially put a spark into their lifeless offense up to that point in the game.
Things didn’t exactly go to plan. Manning saw two drives before the end of the first half, completing three of his six pass attempts and taking three sacks. On the final drive of the first half, Manning also put the ball on the ground, resulting in a fumble recovery for Georgia.
It wasn’t Manning’s shining moment that Texas was seemingly hoping it would be. But fans aren’t exactly blaming Manning for the performance, instead criticizing the Longhorns coaching staff for putting Manning into an incredibly difficult position coming off the bench cold against a great team like Georgia.
By putting in Arch Manning, Steve Sarkisian may have completely irrationally caused a QB controversy and potentially lost the locker room. Quinn Ewers’ sideline demeanor looked defeated and Arch didn’t do anything more to help the offense. If the season crumbles, Sark is to blame
— Taylor Gaspar Estes (@TaylorEstes247) October 20, 2024
Putting Manning in this game only to again go back to Ewers at the start of the second half is certainly a questionable decision for many reasons. You can certainly argue that Manning was almost set up to fail given the circumstances. And it will sure be interesting to see whether Manning or Ewers will be their starter next week.
