Texas QB Quinn Ewers ‘questionable’ for game vs. ULM: Will Arch Manning get first start?

Texas starting quarterback Quinn Ewers is questionable for the Longhorns’ game this weekend against Louisiana-Monroe, coach Steve Sarkisian said on Monday.

Ewers, who suffered a strained oblique in the second quarter of the Longhorns’ 56-7 win over UTSA, left Saturday’s game early in the second quarter and didn’t return. Redshirt freshman Arch Manning relieved Ewers with four touchdown passes and a touchdown run and would make his first career start on Saturday if Ewers can’t go.

Ewers had been playing some of the best football of his career before the injury. He has completed a career-high 73.4 percent of his passes this season, threw for 691 yards, eight touchdowns and two interceptions and averaged 8.7 yards per attempt in eight-plus quarters of action. Entering last weekend, Ewers was the betting favorite to win the Heisman Trophy, per BetMGM.

Sarkisian said the injury was non-contact and Ewers felt pain as he threw a corner route for a 49-yard completion to Gunnar Helm. He tried to continue to play but had to come out of the game after the next snap.

“On the release, he just feels it, you know?” Sarkisian said of the play on which Ewers was injured. “I think what he thought was it was just going to kind of go away, so he stayed in for one more play and then realized, ‘I probably need to get this looked at, this doesn’t feel right.’”

If Ewers is unable to go, it will be the third consecutive season that he has missed a game with an injury. He missed three games in 2022 with a clavicle injury and missed two games last year with an AC joint sprain.

Sarkisian said they’ll monitor Ewers day-to-day and see how he feels. But based on how the quarterback handled his past two injuries, he’s confident that Ewers will effectively use any downtime he has and be ready once he’s cleared to return.

“He’s always staying dialed in,” Sarkisian said. “He’s also diligent with his recovery, and that’s why when he comes back, he comes back and performs at a high level.”

Regarding Manning’s performance on Saturday (he finished 9 of 12 passing for 223 yards), Sarkisian said the young quarterback looked “poised and composed.” Sarkisian said Manning made good decisions and was getting the ball to the right receivers when making his reads.

“There were some learning curves in there, a couple things to learn from, but at the end of the day, I thought he played at a high level,” Sarkisian said.

Sarkisian said they’ll adjust how many practice reps Manning gets with the first team as they monitor Ewers’ status. True freshman Trey Owens, the Longhorns’ third-string quarterback who made his career debut against UTSA, will also see increased work this week. Owens would serve as the backup to Manning if Ewers is unable to go.

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(Photo: Tim Warner / Getty Images)