Majority of Texas’ SEC Opponents Have Relied on Backup QBs

With a tumultuous nonconference season officially in the books, the Texas Longhorns turn their attention to their SEC slate ahead.

They will kick things off against the Florida Gators on the road, which will be followed by their annual Red River Rivalry game against the Oklahoma Sooners in Dallas.

The quarterback on each of these opposing teams are currently dealing with injuries, making them questionable to appear in their matchups against the Longhorns. Texas faced backup quarterbacks in many of its SEC matchups last year, and it looks like they could start 2025 the same way.

Sooners quarterback John Mateer made headlines earlier this week after the team revealed that he must undergo hand surgery to help repair a broken bone in his throwing hand. He broke the bone in the first quarter of Oklahoma’s game against the Auburn Tigers last Saturday.

He played through the injury to help his team earn a 24-17 victory, but the quarterback is now looking at at least three weeks on the sideline. Healing in time for Dallas doesn’t seem to be entirely ruled out, but it seems like the indefinite injury timeline could mean that the current Heisman Trophy favorite won’t be back until later in the conference season.

In the event that he is unable to play, sophomore quarterback Michael Hawkins Jr. will take the field instead. 

As far as Florida quarterback DJ Lagway’s health goes, he was wearing a walking boot this week. but there’s not nearly as much concern as with Mateer.

If Lagway were to reaggravate the injury leading into the Texas game, true freshman quarterback Tramell Jones Jr. would take his place. Should this happen, this would be the second consecutive year Texas faced a Florida team forced to resort to its backup quarterback. 

Including the SEC Championship, the Longhorns played nine conference games last season. Depending on how one looks at it, between four and five of these matchups took place against backup quarterbacks. 

Here are those players from last season:

– Michael Van Buren Jr., Mississippi State
– Michael Hawkins Jr., Oklahoma
– Aidan Warner, Florida
– Cutter Boley, Kentucky (replaced Brock Vandagriff mid-game)
– Gunner Stockton, Georgia (replaced Carson Beck mid-game)

A discrepancy exists when deciding whether or not the second matchup against Georgia in the SEC Championship last season can fully be considered to be against a backup, given that starting quarterback Carson Beck played the first half before suffering an elbow injury. He was replaced by Gunner Stockton, who led the Bulldogs to a win in overtime.

Either way, Texas has fared well in terms of facing backup quarterbacks since their entrance into the SEC ahead of the 2024 season. 

The Longhorns’ already daunting defense has been let off the hook in this way against several impressive teams, and depending on how Mateer heals, their lucky streak could continue in the weeks to come.