Texas redshirt freshman quarterback Arch Manning will start for the Longhorns on Saturday against Louisiana-Monroe, coach Steve Sarkisian said Thursday.
Manning, the son of Cooper Manning and nephew of Peyton and Eli Manning, threw for four touchdowns and ran for another last week in relief of starting quarterback Quinn Ewers, who left Texas’ 56-7 win over UTSA with a strained oblique. Sarkisian said on Monday that Ewers was “questionable” for this weekend as they monitored his recovery.
It will be the first career start for Manning, the former No. 1 recruit in the 2023 class.
Arch Manning is going to start at quarterback for Texas on Saturday, coach Steve Sarkisian said.
— Sam Khan Jr. (@skhanjr) September 19, 2024
Manning was 9 of 12 passing for 223 yards against UTSA and looked “poised and composed,” according to Sarkisian. True freshman Trey Owens, who made his career debut last week against UTSA, will serve as Manning’s backup on Saturday.
This will be the third consecutive season that Ewers misses a game with an injury. He missed three games in 2022 with a clavicle injury and missed two games last year with an AC joint sprain. Sarkisian said this week that based on how well Ewers has played following those injuries, he’s confident Ewers will come back strong from this setback as well.
Ewers had been playing some of the best football of his career before the injury. He has completed a career-high 73.4 percent of his passes this season, threw for 691 yards, eight touchdowns and two interceptions and averaged 8.7 yards per attempt in eight-plus quarters of action. Entering last weekend, Ewers was the betting favorite to win the Heisman Trophy.
The No. 1 Longhorns (3-0) are a 44.5-point favorite over the Warhawks, according to BetMGM.
Required reading
- Arch Manning’s unique approach to recruiting and the coach behind it: ‘There’s no red carpet’
- How Texas landed Arch Manning
- Inside the Texas spending blitz that hooked Arch Manning and a No. 2 recruiting class
- At Manning Passing Academy, Arch Manning and other QBs explain decision to transfer or stay put
- How much will Arch Manning, college football’s most famous backup QB, play for Texas in 2024?
- Why Arch Manning leaving Texas after Quinn Ewers returned never would have made sense
(Photo: Aaron E. Martinez / USA Today Network via Imagn Images)
