Could a blowout loss at home mark the end of the Quinn Ewers era of Texas football? Things certainly haven’t been looking good for him against SEC titan Georgia so far.
To say that Texas’ offense has been anemic in the first half wouldn’t really tell the story. Texas had just 15 yards of offense on their first 23 plays and their drives have consisted of four punts, a Ewers strip-sack-fumble and a Ewers interception. After their fourth punt of the game midway through the second quarter, Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian pulled the plug on Ewers – just six quarters after Ewers returned to the starting lineup following an injury.
Trailing 20-0 with 4:43 remaining in the second quarter, Sarkisian replaced his longtime starter with sophomore Arch Manning, who looked solid in his previous games against teams like UTSA, Louisiana-Monroe and Mississippi State. Manning completed 70.5-percent of his passes for 901 yards and nine touchdowns with just two interceptions while adding 82 rushing yards and three touchdowns on the ground.
It seems unlikely that Manning will be able to lead Texas out of their deficit given how big the deficit is and how much tougher Georgia is than any other team he’s faced so far. Even some of the best quarterbacks in all of college football struggle against Kirby Smart’s defenses.
But if Manning is able to make so much as a dent in the Georgia defense this game, it could give Sarkisian pause to reconsider his plan for the rest of the season.
Can Manning mount a comeback against the Bulldogs? Have we seen the last of Quinn Ewers under center for the Longhorns?
The game is being played on ABC.
Related: Texas Starting QB Quinn Ewers Injured, Replaced By Arch Manning