Quinn Ewers or Arch Manning? The Texas Longhorns quarterback ‘controversy’ isn’t going away anytime soon according to ESPN’s Pat McAfee.
Since Arch Manning stepped in for an injured Quinn Ewers against UTSA, the college football world has been talking about almost nothing else. Some major analysts say there isn’t a controversy.
Fox Sports’ Joel Klatt says having two starting QBs on your roster is a ‘win-win.’ Greg McElroy says Texas is ‘Ewers Team.” Even ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith has weighed in saying ‘pump the breaks’ on Arch Manning replacing Ewers.
On the flip side, SEC stalwart Paul Finebaum says Manning will win the Heisman Trophy at Texas. The noise has been almost deafening. USA TODAY Sports is wondering if it’s a problem.
McAfee says it’s not going away anytime soon.
“Quinn Ewers was the Heisman favorite there for a while. Quinn Ewers back healthy. Quinn Ewers ballin’. Quinn Ewers potentially the first quarterback off the board going into the NFL this year. So good. But there’s another quarterback on that team that has the last name of Manning and if he’s going to go for five touchdowns every week, which is certainly possible. That is going to be a loud talking point whether they like it or not. That is something Sark is going to have to navigate obviously.” — Pat McAfee
https://twitter.com/PatMcAfeeShow/status/1836455038694064344
McAfee says Manning has been agreeable to his situation as Ewers backup. But Arch is a Manning after all.
“The Mannings will be completely cool with it all because they’ve agreed to everything that’s happening, even tough Arch is making the decisions. He wanted to go to Texas. Didn’t mind sitting and waiting. Didn’t mind having a college experience. Didn’t mind being a normal human and a normal teammate. But then he gets on the field and he goes bananas. He’s the fastest guy on the field. He’s been going to the Manning passing academy since he was like 8-years-old. I heard some people say, ‘Would we even be talking about this if his last name wasn’t Manning?’ No! That’s why we’re talking about it.” — Pat McAfee
Is all of the chatter good or bad for the team? One one hand the Longhorns are the talk of college football. On the other, it could disrupt the chemistry to throw the team off balance.