Will Texas QB Quinn Ewers be healthy, ready to play for Longhorns vs. Oklahoma in Red River Showdown?
Ewers was questionable all week leading up to Mississippi State with strained abdominal injury before being ruled out.
Texas coach Steve Sarkisian has made it crystal clear that Quinn Ewers is his starting quarterback and Arch Manning is a capable backup.
Manning continues to grow, though. He turned in another dazzling performance Saturday against Mississippi State and was a steady force in an otherwise uneven 35-13 win.
But Sarkisian indicated that Ewers’ abdominal strain injury will be cleared up by the time No. 1 Texas (5-0, 1-0 SEC) plays its next game against Oklahoma (4-1, 1-1) on Oct. 12.
The upcoming bye week provides another seven days of rest to get ready for October and the season’s stretch run.
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“We’ve got a few guys are a little fatigued, and we have some guys that have been hurt that I think we can get back by that game, too,” Sarkisian said. “You know, obviously, Quinn, Derek Williams, some guys like that.”
Steve Sarkisian was ‘ripping his ass’ but QB Arch Manning’s steady day lifted No. 1 Texas vs. Mississippi State
Manning completes 26 of 31 passes for 324 yards with 2 TDs, 1 TD on the ground in messy SEC debut
Ewers practiced some last week but Manning took the majority of the snaps with the first-team offense. Ewers was listed as questionable on the SEC-mandated availability reports on Thursday and Friday before being moved to “Out” prior to kickoff. Williams was listed as questionable all week with a hamstring issue.
Ewers was on the Texas sideline Saturday in street clothes wearing several gold chains and wearing an earpiece to listen to the play calls.
“Quinn’s a stud. He’s getting himself ready to go,” Sarkisian said on SEC Network immediately after the game. “I think Quinn’s probably helping Arch with me ripping his ass. Even though he’s 26 of 31 for over 300 yards, I was still ripping his ass today. But that’s what we do around here.”
Later when Sarkisian had cooled off, he said, "When we get Quinn back, we’re all going to be excited for that. But we also know gosh, what a luxury that we do have, and what invaluable experience Arch got over these two-and-a-half games.”
