Texas starting quarterback Quinn Ewers will not play on Saturday against Mississippi State, the school announced, meaning redshirt freshman Arch Manning will make his second career start in the Longhorns’ SEC opener.
Ewers has been recovering from a strained oblique suffered in the second quarter of Texas’ Sept. 14 win against UTSA. Manning accounted for five touchdowns in two-plus quarters that night and made his starting debut last week against Louisiana-Monroe, throwing for 258 yards, two touchdowns and two interceptions in a 51-3 win.
Ewers entered this week as questionable, according to Texas coach Steve Sarkisian, who delayed a decision on whether to start Ewers to monitor his recovery and “give Quinn every opportunity to see if he’s ready to play.”
On Thursday, Sarkisian said Ewers has “improved every day” but that Manning also “has had a very good week” in practice. Ewers was listed as questionable when the SEC released its daily availability report on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday night.
Ewers will get extra recovery time before the No. 1 Longhorns’ next game. Texas is off next week and faces Oklahoma in the annual Red River rivalry on Oct. 12 in Dallas.
Saturday will be the Longhorns’ first conference game as an SEC member. Manning had an up-and-down performance in his first start last week, completing 15 of 29 passes. Sarkisian said that was partly because of the game plan, which included a heavy dose of deep pass plays. Manning attempted 10 passes of 20 or more air yards last week, more than Ewers had attempted in his first two starts combined, according to TruMedia.
The Longhorns (4-0) are 37.5-point favorites against the Bulldogs, according to BetMGM. Mississippi State (1-3) has lost three in a row, including double-digit defeats to Toledo and Florida. Blake Shapen, the Bulldogs’ starting quarterback, is out for the season with a shoulder injury he suffered in last week’s 45-28 loss to Florida.
(Photo: Tim Warner / Getty Images)
