Texas
Steve Sarkisian created Texas QB controversy with Arch Manning, even if he says he didn’t
AUSTIN, Texas — On Thursday, on the eve of a heavyweight clash between No. 1 Texas and No. 5 Georgia, Longhorns coach Steve Sarkisian was asked what it would take for him to change quarterbacks mid-game from Quinn Ewers to Arch Manning. The coach quickly dismissed the question, saying, “I’m not even going to answer that. I don’t know what the question is.”
Two days later, we got an answer that is suddenly the new headline of Texas’ season.
Sarkisian pulled Ewers for Manning late in the first half of Saturday’s loss to the Bulldogs, trailing 20-0 in what became a 30-15 final score. Manning closed the first half with two drives. And while Sarkisian went back to Ewers to open the second half and Ewers played better as Texas made the final score respectable, the coach opened up a can of worms he was long desperate to avoid.
GO DEEPER
Georgia knocks off Texas to restake claim to SEC front-runner status
“Quinn’s our starting quarterback,” Sarkisian said after the game.
He can say that to the media and the fans, but there’s no putting this genie back in the bottle now. It’s a quarterback controversy, however you want to define it. It’s an unexpected wrench thrown into what was until Saturday a perfect season for Texas. Fans who already wanted Manning to play now know it’s possible he can come in when Ewers doesn’t play well.
Sarkisian has always been a staunch defender of Ewers from the moment he arrived on campus and to this point had handled the quarterback situation as well as humanly possible. He was well aware of what pulling Ewers for the highly touted Manning for non-injury reasons would mean for the attention on this team. But the door has been opened now, and it’ll stay there for the rest of the season.
It’s been almost impossible for Texas and Sarkisian to keep the Arch hype at bay because it’s everywhere. Walk around a Texas game this year and you see far more fans in Manning jerseys than Ewers. The No. 16 jerseys and shirts are prominently positioned in the team stores around the Darrel K. Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium. Fans at every game ask each other if they’ll see Peyton and Eli Manning’s nephew get into the game. Poor Ewers got a Dr. Pepper commercial but the entire premise was having a backup.
There are so many Arch Manning jerseys in Austin. pic.twitter.com/sg4UaWJLyI
— Chris Vannini (@ChrisVannini) October 19, 2024
I wrote after Texas’ win at Michigan that Ewers deserved more respect and it was time to stop the Arch questions while Ewers was still in the burnt orange. It was Ewers who brought Texas back to prominence. But then Ewers injured his oblique, missed two games and hasn’t been the same in the two games back. He threw for 17 yards with two turnovers in the first half Saturday before getting benched.
GO DEEPER
Vannini: Texas’ Quinn Ewers stakes his claim as the top quarterback in the nation
When Manning entered the game Saturday facing a 20-0 deficit, the roar of the crowd was enormous.
“I felt Quinn was a little uneasy, and I felt like giving him a chance to step back and regroup,” Sarkisian said, explaining the change. “I didn’t know if we’d get a series or two with Arch, depending on how much time was remaining in the half, so we just told Quinn we’re going to go with Arch here, give you a chance to get in the locker room, regroup and then come back out in the second half, so that’s what we did.”
But Ewers told reporters after the game that he wasn’t told he would go back in the game until he was in the locker room at halftime.
“(Coaches said) they’re going to give Arch a shot and just give me time to settle down,” Ewers said.
Manning briefly gave Texas a spark. The ball came out of his hand with more quickness and zip than Ewers. He completed three of six passes, scrambled for a 21-yard gain and his mobility was clearly an asset. But he took a bad sack for an 11-yard loss, then took another sack and fumbled the ball away, leading to a Georgia field goal and a 23-0 halftime lead.
GEORGIA FORCES THE FUMBLE ON ARCH MANNING 😳
THE BULLDOGS CONTINUE TO ROLL IN AUSTIN 👀 pic.twitter.com/c05YfLJnrR
— ESPN (@espn) October 20, 2024
It was a reminder that the hyped Manning still has some growing to do on the field, like when he threw two interceptions and completed barely half of his passes against Louisiana-Monroe, before playing much better against Mississippi State.
Ewers started the second half and quickly drove Texas down for a touchdown, putting a jolt in the crowd. When a bizarrely overturned pass interference interception put Texas on the doorstop, Ewers threw a second touchdown pass and pulled the Longhorns within one score at 23-15.
GO DEEPER
UGA’s Smart on overturned pass interference call: ‘They tried to rob us’
“I felt (the change) was effective, and Quinn came out and played a much better second half and played well in the third quarter,” Sarkisian said.
“I just settled down and wasn’t trying to make the play and just kept playing,” Ewers said.
He played better, but not well enough to lead a comeback and put the benching out of our minds. He finished 25-for-43 passing for 211 yards, with two touchdowns and one interception.
Ewers has typically played well in Texas’ biggest games, like twice against Alabama, the Big 12 championship against Oklahoma State, the playoff game against Washington and the trip to Michigan earlier this year. Post-injury, he struggled early against Oklahoma last week and was as bad as he’s ever looked in the first half against Georgia.
Asked if the oblique injury was still bothering him, Ewers said he feels it a little bit but it might just be a mental hurdle.
“But that’s just how injuries go,” he said.
Sarkisian can say he just wanted to settle Ewers down, but he wouldn’t have made a change if he didn’t think Manning gave them a shot to come back. Texas’ defense played well, allowing just 283 total yards and 4.0 yards per play. If Texas could just get something going on offense and stop turning the ball over in bad spots, they’d have had a chance to win the game and stay undefeated. That’s why he took the risk of the QB change. It didn’t work.
It’s a loss that completely opens up the SEC race again. No SEC team is undefeated entering November for the first time since 2007. Only Texas A&M and LSU are undefeated in conference play and they play each other next week.
GO DEEPER
College Football Playoff 2024 projections: Oregon, Miami, Georgia on top of bracket
Texas is still good enough to win a national championship. Sarkisian knows that. Maybe in the end, the brief benching is the motivation for Ewers to fix things on the field and take the Longhorns to the top. Asked if he was ready to get more Arch questions moving forward, Ewers scoffed and chuckled and said, “I don’t know.”
Every Texas game moving forward will open with the possibility Manning could come in if Ewers doesn’t play well. For a year and a half, Sarkisian had expertly avoided that. Now he’s opened it. In a season with sky-high expectations on a program that always has eyes on it, an unexpected giant question mark has just appeared.
Free, daily sports updates direct to your inbox.
Free, daily sports updates direct to your inbox.
Sign Up
(Photo of Arch Manning running the ball in the second quarter: Tim Warner / Getty Images)
A Brazilian fitness influencer has died after getting into difficulty during the swimming portion of an ironman event in Texas.
Mara Flavia Souza Araujo was reported as a “lost swimmer” around 7.30am at the Ironman Texas in Lake Woodlands near Houston on Saturday. According to KPRC 2 News, safety crews could not immediately locate Araujo. The 38-year-old’s body was discovered around 90 minutes later in 10ft of water by divers. She was pronounced dead on the scene.
Montgomery County Sheriff’s Department confirmed her identity in a statement to NBC on Monday.
“MCSO can confirm that Mara Flavia Souza Araujo, 38, of Brazil died while competing in the Ironman event in The Woodlands on Saturday,” the sheriff’s department told NBC News. “Preliminary investigations indicate she drowned during the swimming portion of the event.”
Araujo was an experienced triathlete and had completed at least nine ironman events since 2018. She had more than 60,000 followers on Instagram and had posted about the importance of making the most out of life in the days before her death.
Allow Instagram content?
This article includes content provided by Instagram. We ask for your permission before anything is loaded, as they may be using cookies and other technologies. To view this content, click ‘Allow and continue’.
“Enjoy this ride on the bullet train that is life,” she wrote in Portuguese. “And even with the speed of the machine blurring the landscape, look out the window – for at any moment, the train will drop you off at the eternal station.”
Organizers of the race expressed their condolences on Saturday.
“We send our deepest sympathies to the family and friends of the athlete and will offer them our support as they go through this very difficult time,” race organizers said in a statement on Saturday. “Our gratitude goes out to the first responders for their assistance.”
A glamorous triathlete who drowned during an Ironman competition in Texas shared a photo from a swimming pool during a final training session just two days before the tragic race.
Brazilian influencer Mara Flávia, 38, shared the shot of her on the edge of a pool on Thursday — two days before she vanished during an open-water swim in The Woodlands Saturday morning.
“Just another day at work,” Flávia, 38, wrote in Portuguese alongside the pic of her wearing a matching pink swimming costume and cap.
The influencer, who had more than 60,000 followers online, chose the Robin S track “Show Me Love” for her post with the hashtags “triathlon,” “swimming” and “triathlete.”
Flávia vanished during an open-water swim in The Woodlands Saturday morning – the first of three grueling trials that competitors face during the 140-mile race.
Fire crews were told about a “lost swimmer” at around 7:30 a.m., one hour into the pro-female swim, KPRC reported.
Rescuers battled challenging visibility conditions before Flávia’s body was pulled from the water just after 9:30 a.m.
Montgomery County Sheriffs confirmed that the victim “drowned while participating in the swim portion of the event,” according to a statement. The office said its Major Crimes unit will continue the investigation “per normal protocols.”
Shawn McDonald, a volunteer, recounted the commotion before the swimmer’s body was recovered.
The dad, who volunteered with his daughter Mila, 12, said a group of younger volunteers in a kayak raised a flag and blew their whistles, “yelling for help.”
“I heard them say she went under,” he wrote on Facebook.
“I had Mila hand me the paddle and I started calling out to the athletes around us to stop so I could cross. I made my way over in about 30 seconds.
“When I got there and asked what happened, they all said the same thing: She went under. Right here. Right below us. The panic and fear on their faces won’t leave me for a long time.”
The volunteer recalled how one man had a “thousand-yard stare” on his face – before diving into the water in a desperate bid to find Flávia.
“I dove in immediately and began searching. After about a minute underwater, I felt her body with my foot. I surfaced, took what seemed like the deepest breath I have ever taken and went back down. She was gone.”
Boats with sonar combed the area – and McDonald was told to leave the water before the body was recovered.
“The victim was found in about 10 feet of water on the bottom of the lake,” Buck said. “The dive team accessed the victim, brought her up about 9:37 and then brought her over to the shore where she was pronounced DOS [deceased on scene],” Palmer Buck, the Woodlands fire chief, said.
It’s not known what caused the triathlete to go under the water.
Journalism grad Flávia previously worked in radio and television before pursuing a sporting career at age 28.
She previously twice won the Brazilian Grand Prix, and finished third in the Brasilia triathlon event.
Lady Vols basketball is looking to add more pieces to its 2026-27 roster with high-level experience. After completing her junior season at Texas A&M, Fatmata Janneh has emerged as a Tennessee target for her final year of eligibility. According to her Instagram story on Sunday night, she is in Knoxville.
With the Aggies a year ago, the 6-foot-2 forward averaged 11.4 points per game on 43.3% shooting from the field. She also showed off an ability to hit from range, posting 1.1 makes per game on 33% shooting from three.
Perhaps Janneh’s biggest strength is her rebounding, though. She ripped down 9.7 boards per contest, good for the fifth-most in the SEC. This featured 2.6 rebounds on the offensive end per outing.
Janneh also averaged 1.1 assists, 1.4 steals and 0.4 blocks per game. She appeared in 27 games, starting in each.
More From RTI: How Watching The NCAA Tournament Drew Terrence Hill Jr. To Tennessee Basketball
Janneh started her career with a pair of seasons at St. Peter’s. As a sophomore, she averaged a double-double, posting 18.2 points and 11.6 rebounds per game. This made her a sought-after transfer in the portal before landing at Texas A&M as the nation’s leading defensive rebounder. As a freshman, she averaged 11.0 points and 8.0 rebounds.
The forward is from London, England, attending Barking Abbey Sixth Form for her prep ball. She would be the second player from England to join the Tennessee roster if she committed. UT also added the commitment of incoming freshman and former Boston College signee Irene Oboavwoduo this offseason.
So far, Caldwell and the Lady Vols have landed five transfers in this portal cycle. This features Liberty guard Avery Mills, Northern Arizona guard Naomi White, Stanford forward Harper Peterson and Georgia forward Zhen Craft and guard Rylie Theuerkauf.
Tennessee will also roster a pair of incoming freshmen. Four-star recruit and top-50 prospect Gabby Minus is staying true to her signing despite the roster overhaul and assistant coaching changes, along with the addition of Oboavwoduo.
-
South Dakota2 minutes ago
SD Lottery Powerball, Lotto America winning numbers for April 20, 2026
-
Tennessee8 minutes agoTennessee Senate passes ‘CVS bill,’ reshapes pharmacy business as CVS threatens closures
-
Texas14 minutes agoFitness influencer drowns during swimming portion of Ironman Texas
-
Utah20 minutes agoUtah Jazz win coin flip, guaranteed to keep NBA Draft Lottery pick
-
Vermont26 minutes ago
VT Lottery Powerball, Gimme 5 results for April 20, 2026
-
Virginia32 minutes agoVirginia voters to vote on measure that could determine control of Congress
-
Washington38 minutes agoWashington Watch: CCAMPIS grant competition announced – Community College Daily
-
Wisconsin44 minutes agoTranfser Portal Predcition: Wisconsin trasnfer John Blackwell likely to land with contender