With the season just a few days away one of the unfinished position battles for Texas is the backup quarterback spot.
Unlike the past couple seasons that saw Texas host a position battle for their starting quarterback role, everyone is well aware who the starter is in Quinn Ewers this year. However, based on comments made by head coach Steve Sarkisian this week, the backup quarterback role hasn’t been decided.
As transcribed by 247Sports, Sarkisian expressed that both Maalik Murphy and Arch Manning are still pushing for the role. A push that he expects to be decided on Thursday.
“Maalik and Arch, right now, they’re both doing well,” Sarkisian said during his first in-season weekly news conference. “Who do we feel like come Thursday is the guy that kind of earned that opportunity to be the backup this week? That’ll be who the backup is.”
While this may feel like a conflicting battle for some, for Sarkisian he expressed just how pleased he is with the improvement he’s seen in the quarterback room. Especially when you compare it to spring and last season.
“That competition is rolling along,” Sarkisian said, “Maalik has done some great things for us, too. I love it because I think that room, in general, is playing at a higher level than it was in spring — no question — and a higher level than it was a year ago at this time.”
The Longhorns are set to take on JT Daniels and Rice this weekend, and if everything goes right we will see who Texas turns to first if they are up by enough points to bring in the reserves. Murphy shined in the spring game and has the advantage of being in the system longer, but Manning has been raved about just as much for the step he’s taken from spring to fall.
This battle is one that is expected to really heat up next season assuming Ewers leaves for the NFL draft.