During the Texas Longhorns’ week 3 matchup against UTSA, the Longhorns’ senior quarterback, Quinn Ewers suffered an oblique injury. Freshman quarterback, Arch Manning was thrown into action, and he answered the call. Since taking over for the injured Ewers, Manning has been incredible. Speculation began to grow around whether or not the Longhorns should stick with Manning even when Ewers fully recovers. Nonetheless, on Monday, October 7th, head coach Steve Sarkisian announced that barring unforeseen setbacks, he intends to start Ewers Texas’ upcoming rivalry game against the Oklahoma Sooners. Let’s look at each quarterback’s resume and determine if playing Ewers over Manning is the right move.
Arch Manning’s Resume:
Arch’s last name may be somewhat familiar, and that is because he is indeed the nephew of Super Bowl-winning quarterbacks, Peyton and Eli Manning. Courtesy of private coaching from his uncles, Arch Manning made a name for himself as a quarterback prodigy at a young age. After smashing multiple of his uncle’s high school records, Manning was viewed as the top recruiting prospect in the nation in the class of 2023. The 5-star recruit ultimately committed to play college ball at the University of Texas, under head coach Steve Sarkisian. While Manning had the talent to start as a true freshman for most schools, he took a backseat to Junior quarterback, Quinn Ewers. He redshirted his freshman year (he practiced with the team but wasn’t officially on the roster, this way he can be a freshman again the next year).
Ewers was incredible in 2023 and after leading Texas to their best season in decades, was expected to head to the NFL. However, Ewers shocked the world and chose to play another year of college football. This implied that Manning would have to sit on the bench for a second year. Despite speculation beginning to grow regarding Manning potentially transferring to a different school, Arch stayed put. Sure enough, his loyalty paid off and he got his shot when Ewers hurt his Oblique in week 3. Manning took advantage of the opportunity and never looked back. In Manning’s 3 games, he’s won all 3, thrown for 901 yards, 9 touchdowns, and only 2 interceptions, while adding 82 yards and 3 touchdowns on the ground. Arch Manning has shown why he was the number 1 high school player in the nation and has lived up to the hype.
Quinn Ewers’s Resume:
Much like Manning, Quinn Ewers made a name for himself as a quarterback prodigy at a young age. He was also the top recruit in the nation in his class in 2021. The 5-star recruit ultimately committed to play college ball at The Ohio State University, under head coach Ryan Day. Ohio State has a reputation for bringing in multiple top quarterbacks and only one gets to start. However, the quarterback that wins the starting job at Ohio State, is almost guaranteed to be a first-round draft pick in the NFL draft. Over the past 5 NFL drafts, 3 Ohio State quarterbacks were selected in the first round. Unfortunately, in 2021, Ewers lost the quarterback battle to CJ Stroud.
After Stroud decided to come back for another year of college ball in 2022, Quinn Ewers decided to try a different angle and entered the transfer portal. He committed to play the 2022 season at the University of Texas, under head coach Steve Sarkisian. Sarkisian was brought in before the 2021 season to rebuild the Longhorns’ struggling program and return it to its former glory. Due to poor quarterback play, that didn’t happen in the 2021 season, as Texas went 5W-7L. Now that he had his quarterback, Sarkisian was out of excuses and all the pressure in the world was on the shoulders of Sarkisian and his quarterback, Quinn Ewers. Ewers’ 2022 season was good but not quite what the Longhorns had hoped for. He missed 3 games with an injury. In the 10 games Ewers did play, he threw for 2,177 yards, 15 touchdowns, and 6 interceptions, with almost no production on the ground. After Texas finished the season 8W-5L, the program decided that it was too tough of a decision and gave Sarkisian and Ewers one more year to prove themselves. They would not regret that decision. In 2023, Ewers and the Longhorns emerged as a juggernaut. In 14 games, Ewers threw for 3,479 yards, 22 touchdowns, and 6 interceptions, while adding 75 yards and 5 touchdowns on the ground. Ewers’ efforts were enough to propel the Longhorns to the 3rd spot on the AP Poll and send Texas to the college football playoffs for the first time (CFP began in 2014). Unfortunately, the Longhorns lost a shootout in the Sugar Bowl to Michael Penix and the Washington Huskies. While the 37-31 loss in the semi-finals was crushing, Ewers and Sarkisian had established themselves as the core of the University of Texas’s football program and looked forward to a bright future.
After falling just short in 2023, Ewers decided to return to Texas for 2023 and make another run at the college football national championship. In the opener, Ewers made quick work of Colorado State, as the Longhorns defeated the Rams by a final score of 52-0. The following week, Texas had a true test, as they traveled to Ann Arbor to face the defending nation champions, the Michigan Wolverines. Ewers announced to the world that not only were the Longhorns championship contenders, but they were the favorites. He made a joke out of the Michigan defense, throwing for 3 touchdowns on his way to taking down the reigning champs, 31-12. Against UTSA in week 3, Ewers continued to roll, scoring 2 touchdowns in the first quarter. However, in the second quarter, disaster struck. Ewers went down awkwardly and strained his oblique. Ever since then, he’s been watching from the sidelines as Arch Manning dominates.
With two challenging games on the horizon, against the 18th-ranked Oklahoma Sooners and the 5th-ranked Georgia Bulldogs, Sarkisian and the Longhorns are going back to their senior quarterback. For three different reasons, I believe that it’s the right move. First, Ewers is far more experienced. In addition to his 26 collegiate starts, he’s played in 3 bowl/conference championship games and dominated Michigan on the road. His quality performances in those 4 games show his ability to perform at a high level when the lights are brightest. On the other hand, Manning has only started 3 collegiate games in his life. Ewers is a far safer bet. In addition, while Manning has looked great, he hasn’t looked as good as Ewers. Ewers faced stronger competition and still put up a higher completion percentage and a lower interception rate than Manning. What Manning has done as a freshman is more impressive than what Ewers has done as a senior, but classes aside, Ewers has been better than Manning. Furthermore, Ewers deserves the opportunity more than Manning. This is Ewers’ final season of eligibility, after 2024 he will be forced to declare for the NFL draft. He could’ve left for the NFL last offseason and been a 2nd or 3rd-round pick. However, he chose to stay loyal and play another year for the Longhorns. Hence, he deserves an opportunity to prove that he’s a first-round talent. On the other hand, Manning has another 3 years of eligibility and has made it clear that he doesn’t intend to declare for the NFL draft in the foreseeable future. Benching Ewers can kill his career while benching Manning won’t impact his career once or ever. I’m glad that Steve Sarkisian is rolling with Ewers and I believe that he won’t regret the decision.
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