SEC play has arrived for Texas, but the Longhorns might not have their starting quarterback for Saturday's game against Mississippi State.
Quinn Ewers missed Texas' resounding win over Louisiana-Monroe with an abdominal injury, putting his status for Week 5 in jeopardy. Arch Manning made his first start in place of Ewers, tossing two interceptions but showing flashes of what made him a five-star recruit.
Despite the quarterback uncertainty, Texas is set to be a massive home favorite against Mississippi State with either signal-caller. The Bulldogs are just 1-3 and suffered a blowout loss to Toledo at home two weeks ago. No game should be glossed over, but Steve Sarkisian can take some comfort knowing the meat of the Longhorns' SEC schedule is still a ways away.
Here's the latest information on Ewers' availability for Saturday's game.
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Will Quinn Ewers or Arch Manning start this week?
Manning is expected to get the start during Saturday's SEC opener against Mississippi State, according to ESPN's Pete Thamel.
Ewers' status remained up in the air ahead of Saturday's contest, even as the star quarterback returned to practice on Monday.
"I would say if, again, if I had to put a report out, he’d be questionable for Saturday. But we’ll see how he goes throughout the week," Sarkisian told reporters Monday.
Sarkisian said he had to see if Ewers could "do enough to show me he can play" throughout the week, explaining that the evaluation included how his QB bounced back Thursday after heavier workloads on Tuesday and Wednesday.
"It's going to be kind of a work in progress. But today was a good start," Sarkisian said, referring to Ewers' return to practice on Monday.
On Thursday, Sarkisian said the team would decide who starts on Friday.
"It won't be a secret," he said. "We're not trying to pull the wool over anybody's eyes. Just want to give Quinn every opportunity to see if he's ready to play and what he looks like."
Friday came and went without an answer. However, a few hours before the game, it appears Manning will be tasked with leading the Longhorns to yet another victory.
As far as Manning is concerned, Sarkisian said the redshirt freshman has "room for growth" but rebounded well after some early mistakes in his first collegiate start.
With Sarkisian and Co. erring on the side of caution in regards to Ewers' health, Manning should have a chance to gain some more experience, this time against an SEC rival — even if it is a side with as bleak an outlook as Mississippi State.
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What happened to Quinn Ewers?
Ewers left Texas' Week 3 win over UTSA with a strained oblique and did not return with the Longhorns up big. Manning entered in place of Ewers and racked up five total touchdowns, giving the program confidence he could handle Louisiana-Monroe.
Oblique strains, which are an abdominal injury that occurs along the side of the body, are much more common in baseball due to the mechanism of forcefully twisting your body when swinging a bat. It's less common for a quarterback, but Ewers isn't believed to be dealing with anything serious and is still just week-to-week.
Manning has held up well in place of Ewers. He did commit two turnovers against Louisiana-Monroe, but Texas still won 51-3 and seems to be well positioned against Mississippi State even if Ewers has to sit out again.
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Arch Manning stats 2024
| Season | Games | CMP% | Yards | TD | INT | Rush yards | Rush TD |
| 2023 | 2 | 40.0% | 30 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 0 |
| 2024 | 3 | 61.7% | 576 | 7 | 2 | 49 | 2 |
| Career | 5 | 59.6% | 606 | 7 | 2 | 56 | 2 |
Manning only saw time in mop-up duty before replacing an injured Ewers against UTSA, but he's already up to nine total touchdowns in limited action for the Longhorns.
The former No. 1 overall recruit lit up UTSA with five total touchdowns in less than a full game, but he threw the first two interceptions of his college career against Louisiana-Monroe last weekend.
