Let’s start with a simple fact of life. Arch Manning is a better quarterback today than his Texas Longhorns teammate, Quinn Ewers. It doesn’t take a scout’s eye to understand why. Manning is a more polished passer, can hurt defenses with his legs in a way Ewers cannot, and brings a generational football IQ that only descendants of the Manning quarterback dynasty seem to possess.
The numbers tell the story, too. The Texas offense averages 6.61 yards per play with No. 3 under center, compared to 9.36 yards when No. 16 takes the snaps.
So why is Ewers, and not Manning, slated to enter Texas’ home College Football Playoff game against the Clemson Tigers Saturday as the starting quarterback?
It’s a conundrum indeed, one that has been largely (and inexplicably) avoided among the established Texas football press gaggle. And though two student athletes are at the center of the issue, it has much more to do with the Longhorns’ fourth-year head coach, Steve Sarkisian.
Why, as the Texas offense continues to struggle to score points (20 or fewer in three of the past four games, 106th in the nation in red zone efficiency), is Sarkisian unwilling to make the seemingly obvious choice for his football team and hand the reins to Manning?
There could be any number of reasons: Sark not wanting to upset the apple cart in the locker room, general aversion to risk, concerns about optics as it pertains to recruiting … anything and everything apart from “Ewers gives us a better chance to win.”
None of this is to say that Ewers is a bad person, or even a bad quarterback. He’s done a commendable job in his 33 career starts, leading Texas to a 25-8 record in those games. However, he has taken a step back in performance relative to last season and hasn’t been able to shake his reputation for “Jekyll and Hyde” execution. Good luck winning four straight playoff games with that level of inconsistency at the quarterback position.
Manning, meanwhile, has checked every box you’d hope to see out of a young, talented quarterback since arriving on campus two years ago as the most famous high school recruit in college football history. He’s flashed explosive-play ability, a knack for coming through in big moments (his 15-yard touchdown scramble on fourth down against Texas A&M was arguably the biggest moment of the Horns’ season), and poise beyond his years. He’s waited patiently for his turn to lead the huddle, much longer than most five-star QBs would tolerate these days. To doubt whether he is mature enough to lead the Longhorns on a championship charge is to deny everything he has shown thus far.
Then there’s the obvious angle. Manning is the future of the Texas program. Ewers is gone after this season, either to the NFL draft or the transfer portal, while Manning will enter 2025 as the unquestioned Texas starter and a Heisman Trophy favorite. Manning, and therefore the program writ large, would only benefit from the experience of leading Texas into the gauntlet of a 12-team playoff. Where better to start than at home, against the worst-ranked team in the bracket?
Recent college football vintage is littered with examples of successful coaches at top programs benching star quarterbacks in favor of younger, unproven backups. Look no further than the man who will patrol the opposite sideline Saturday, Clemson’s cringelord coach Dabo Swinney.
In a classic example of “the worst person you know just made a great point,” in 2018, Swinney benched accomplished starter Kelly Bryant midseason in favor of five-star freshman Trevor Lawrence, who would go on to lead the Tigers to an undefeated record and a national championship that season. Swinney pulled a similar move in 2022, replacing then-star quarterback DJ Uiagalelei with the Tigers’ current signal caller, Austin native Cade Klubnik (who surely won’t be motivated in the slightest Saturday playing back in his hometown).
It’s happened before Sarkisian’s very eyes (and those of 45,000 Texas fans) during the 2021 Red River game when then-Oklahoma coach Lincoln Riley benched Heisman hopeful Spencer Rattler and began the Caleb Williams era with a 21-point comeback win.
And to any who might argue that the opportunity for Sarkisian to make said quarterback change has already come and gone, I say this: If Sarkisian’s idol Nick Saban can replace Jalen Hurts with Tua Tagovailoa at halftime of the national championship game(!!!), it’s literally never too late.
What do all of those cases have in common? Great coaches made gutsy decisions – personal feelings and media scrutiny be damned – to give their teams the best possible chance to win.
That must be Sarkisian’s singular focus when approaching this opportunity to compete for a national championship. Not Ewers’ NFL draft stock. Not how it might affect future recruiting. Sark has assembled a championship-caliber roster in a short time at Texas. The defense might be the best in the nation. But that roster’s best chance to win right now is with Arch Manning, not Quinn Ewers, at quarterback. The coach owes it to his players, the university, and himself to act on that.
Be the first to comment