Texas coach Steve Sarkisian said early in the week that if you appear on the two-deep depth chart, you are likely to play in the first half Saturday against Colorado State.

Even the quarterback?

The Longhorns are fully invested in starter Quinn Ewers. But Sarkisian talked about backup Arch Manning and third-stringer Trey Owens at length Thursday with reporters. The coach sounds happy with his depth at the position.

“I would say for Arch, I'd probably say light years ahead of where he was last year at this time,” Sarkisian said. “His understanding of what we're trying to do offensively, the nuances of the scheme, the timing of certain throws, the protections, all those things.

And I just think his overall comfort level and confidence is much higher than it was a year ago at this time, and very comfortable if Arch goes in the game, then he'll go in and operate and operate at a high level.”

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Manning played in two games last season and completed two of five passes for 30 yards. But Ewers played the entire season and led the Horns to the College Football Playoff.

Manning, a redshirt freshman, will certainly get the call if Ewers is injured or has to leave the game. Then, Owens would be elevated to backup status. The freshman from Houston came to Texas with All-Everything credentials and was ranked 24th among quarterbacks in the state of Texas, according to 247Sports.

“I’ve been impressed with Trey,” Sarkisian said. “Again, he’s a true freshman. And there are days when I’m sure he’s like, can I just get coach Sark and (quarterbacks coach AJ) Milwee off my back? And there’s other days where he does some great stuff, but that’s a little bit of the life of the first year quarterback in our system.

“But I think the one thing we’ve learned is that when the lights come on, he performs,” Sarkisian added. “He’s performed really well for us in every scrimmage. He performed well in the spring game. And I think we’ve got a pretty good idea of the things that he does well. And so if his number is called, I think we feel comfortable with calling the stuff that would put him in a good position to have some success.”

The Longhorns need all of their quarterbacks to have success this season to properly utilize a multitude of receivers and overcome a lack of depth at running back.

Texas is a 32.5-point favorite against Colorado State in the season opener, scheduled to begin 2:30 p.m. Saturday at Royal-Memorial Stadium.