There’s one player Texas cannot afford to be without. That player could be out for an extended time after an injury on Saturday.
Texas quarterback Quinn Ewers appeared to have sustained a shoulder injury against the Houston Cougars. The injury could wholly derail the season.
Ewers struggled in the second half after a near perfect first half netted 170 yards and two touchdowns and 16 completions on 17 attempts. You’re simply not going to get that from the quarterbacks behind him on the depth chart, and backup quarterback Maalik Murphy’s two attempts made that abundantly clear.
Murphy came in to relieve Ewers for a majority of the fourth quarter. Head coach Steve Sarkisian took the ball out of his hands as fast as he gave it.
The raw-talented reserve quarterback badly missed an open receiver on third down to end a drive. In his only other pass, he threw a screen pass barely within his receiver’s reach.
Texas is in real danger of losing one of its next two games. The team faces red-hot teams in BYU and Kansas State in Austin.
Murphy and third-stringer Arch Manning have NFL ceilings. Whether or not they are ready to win four or more games with the same necessary efficiency Quinn Ewers displayed is yet to be seen.
Should they take the field, we are likely to see growing pains from Murphy or Manning over the next few weeks. The Texas coaching staff will need to find ways to manufacture wins in Ewers’ absence.