For all the attention showered on Quinn Ewers and unrelenting internet devotion shoveled onto Arch Manning, there’s a slew of other quarterbacks with Texas Longhorns connections.

Only the stars never aligned for them to make it in Austin.

Look around college football, and you’ll find at least five other starting quarterbacks who either played for or committed to the Longhorns. All of the parted ways on good terms, and most Longhorns fans want nothing but the best for them.

Unfortunately, there’s only one football, and the transfer portal has made it easier to move around the college landscape.

Here’s a look at five starting quarterbacks with Texas connections going into the 2024 season.

Maalik Murphy, Duke

Murphy won praise from Texas fans when he committed and stayed at UT even though he knew both Ewers and Manning were in the mix. He played in seven games with the Horns from 2022-23 and completed 40 of 71 passes for 477 yards with three touchdowns and three interceptions. Murphy did ultimately see the writing on the wall and left to go play immediately. He won the starting job in Durham this August.

"This is my third year in college, so if I'm going to compete, I want to compete with a new place," Murphy said during ACC Kickoff, according to ESPN. "Quinn coming back makes it pretty tough on me just because it was his job to lose, and I didn't really want to deal with a situation like that again. I wanted a fresh start, and I feel like this is a great place to have a fresh start."

Hudson Card, Purdue

Card grew up outside Austin and went to school at Lake Travis, a local powerhouse that turns out tons of Division I talent. He wanted to be a Longhorn like every other Texan. And he was, signing with UT and arriving on campus in 2020.

Card played in two games his redshirt season during the pandemic and then got to start eight games in 2021. He completed 51 of 83 passes for 590 yards with five touchdowns. Card yielded to Ewers in 2022 but still played in 12 games and nearly threw for 1,000 yards. He transferred to Purdue prior to the 2023 season and wound up honorable mention All-Big Ten last season.

Jalen Milroe, Alabama

Milroe was a four-star recruit from Katy, Texas, which is outside Houston and a short drive to Austin. He was committed to UT and, like Card, wanted to be the face of the Longhorns’ program. But Milroe changed his mind almost instantly the moment Ewers committed to the Longhorns. He changed gears and went to Alabama, earning the starting job as a sophomore last season. Milroe became one of the Crimson Tide’s team captains.

Cam Rising, Utah

Believe it or not, Rising’s first season in college was 2018. He redshirted the year Texas quarterback Sam Ehlinger led the Longhorns to a Sugar Bowl win over Georgia. Coach Tom Herman allowed Rising to go to New Orleans and be a part of team functions even though it was sort of an open secret that he would transfer.

Rising transferred to Utah and benefitted from the extra year of eligibility due to the pandemic. He played in one game in 2020 before suffering a season-ending injury. That got him a medical waiver for another year. Rising played all of 2021 and 2022 and then had to medically redshirt in 2023.

Casey Thompson, Oklahoma

If Rising’s journey is a wild testament to the NCAA’s relaxed transfer rules, look at Thompson. He also redshirted at Texas in 2018 and then got to play in four games in 2019. Ehlinger still led the Horns the following year, so Thompson played in just three games in 2020.

Thompson’s best season at UT came in 2021 when he started all season long and threw for 2,113 yards with 24 touchdowns. But like others, Thompson opted to transfer when Texas made a coaching change. It was apparent that Sarkisian wanted to go with Ewers, and Thompson didn’t feel wanted. So he went to Nebraska and started 10 of 12 games.

Thompson then transferred to Florida Atlantic in 2023 and played in just three games before he sustained a season-ending injury. To finish his career, Thompson has transferred to Oklahoma, where it’s believed he’s the first seventh-year player in school history. His father, Charles, was an OU quarterback from 1986-88 under legendary coach Barry Switzer.