This is not about the season. This is not about two weeks from now in the Cotton Bowl or two months from now in the SEC Championship game (hopefully). This is about Saturday. Specifically. Who should start for the Texas Longhorns against Mississippi State? Quinn Ewers or Arch Manning?
It is clear Texas coach Steve Sarkisian wants to give Ewers a “chance” to play in the program’s first ever SEC conference game. Or, make Ewers think he’s getting every chance to play against the Bulldogs. “Just want to give Quinn every opportunity to see if he’s ready to play and what he looks like,” Sark said on Thursday.
But if Ewers injury is in a state that the coaching staff is having to make the call 24 hours before kickoff, is it really a good idea to start him?
Arch has been good in relief, but after the ULM game, it’s pretty clear Texas’ best option at QB for 2024 is Ewers. It doesn’t seem close. Ewers is the quarterback the Longhorns want playing in Red River and against Georgia and down the stretch of the season. If he gets hurt again, Texas has an amazing backup.
https://twitter.com/LonghornsWire/status/1839365644069879824
But if you’re able to give Ewers the Mississippi State game off, with a bye week next, Ewers would have two more weeks to recover from his strained oblique. That would be a full month of rest to make sure it’s as close to 100% as possible before the meaty stretch of the schedule.
Mississippi State seems to be the worst team in the SEC. They’re probably about the level of Colorado State. Maybe a tick better. The Bulldogs have also lost their starting QB for the year. They are wounded coming into Austin.
Starting Manning seems like a win-win. Ewers gets his full month of recovery. Manning gets another weak team to learn against. The coaching staff gets two QBs that are each more ready to face OU and UGA.