Arch Manning is the most famous backup in college football. Now, after stepping in for an injured Quinn Ewers, many are saying there’s a Texas Longhorns quarterback controversy.
This weekend, ESPN’s Paul Finebaum proclaimed Manning would win the Heisman at Texas. Tuesday on ‘First Take,’ Finebaum doubled down and said there is now a QB controversy at the University of Texas.
“Do we have a quarterback controversy? Yeah! We’ve got the Heisman Trophy favorite Quinn Ewers, at least until last week, now looking over his shoulder at the ‘Prodigal Son.’ Quite frankly, I think Sark, whenever Ewers is back, will go with him. But, at the first sign of trouble, the fans will want Arch Manning in there quickly.” — Paul Finebaum
But Stephen A. Smith, the face of ESPN, isn’t buying into the hype yet. In fact, Smith mocked Finebaum for making the leap that Ewers job is in jeopardy.
“I was getting ready to ask Paul Finebaum to get drug tested. I don’t know what he was talking about. He’s shown you that he can get to the national championship? Well, Quinn Ewers hasn’t shown that yet. They weren’t in the national championship last year. They were in the playoffs. … How did he show you this? Because he’s going up against the University of Texas San Antonio. Really? That’s where we’re going? Stop it.” — Stephen A. Smith
Smith thinks Manning has a chance to be a great college football quarterback, but he’s far from convinced based on the sample size we’ve seen so far.
“Arch Manning is promising. No doubt about it. He’s a Manning. The pedigree is elite. We understand it. We expect greatness from him. He’s certainly shown us nothing to refute such proclamations. I get all of that. But the flip side to it is it was UTSA. … We’ll see what happens. But my god. University of Texas San Antonio, a performance against them is what has Paul Finebaum saying, ‘He can take them to the national championship.’ Really? Really? No Paul. Let’s pump the breaks man.” — Stephen A. Smith