Arch Manning sizzles for Texas, but Quinn Ewers is clearly the Longhorns' starter | Golden
Quinn Ewers is the starting quarterback of the Texas Longhorns.
Steve Sarkisian was firm in that statement at the beginning of the spring and nothing has changed.
But this Arch Manning …
Now before you get into a tizzy and accuse yours truly of starting a quarterback controversy in his weekly writing space, think again. As of 4/20, there is no figurative smoke when it comes to who will be the starting quarterback come the season opener against Colorado State.
Barring injury, it’s Ewers, case closed.
The starter struggled in light duty at Saturday's annual Orange-White spring game with only two completions in six attempts, though newcomer Isaiah Bond should have caught a couple of those. One of those incompletions went the other direction. Defensive end Ethan Burke’s deflection landed in the waiting arms of 321-pound defensive tackle Alfred Collins, who rumbled 32 yards for a touchdown. A thick-six, if you will.
The annual spring game is a glorified scrimmage that serves little purpose other than to give diehard fans something to do before late August, but this was a really exciting affair. All in all, count the spring as a quarterbacking success with newcomers Bond, Matthew Golden and Amari Niblack making some plays in their first attended game.
“Some of the goals were getting to know those guys because there are a lot of new faces in the room,” Ewers said. “Being able to connect on the field and even off the field. As a whole, that entire room did a good job of coming in this spring, putting their heads down going to work. I’m proud of those guys for what they did.”
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A quiet day for Quinn Ewers, but by design
Coach Steve Sarkisian has made it no secret that Ewers is the guy behind center, as well he should be. Quinn earned this job with a bang-up season in 2023. He did lose two games to injury, but showed some nice development in his second season on campus with 3,479 passing yards, 22 touchdowns and only six interceptions.
With Texas’ last first-round pick Bijan Robinson cheering from the sideline, Ewers, who will arguably be the most watched college quarterback in America this fall, Ewers completed 2-of-6 passes for 25 yards. This day wasn’t about him because the coaching staff knows what he can do.
Ewers has spent the last few weeks getting acclimated to some new faces at wideout and didn’t figure to see extended action anyway.
“That was totally the plan for Quinn,” Sarkisian said. “That’s why Quinn and Arch were on the same team. I wanted Arch to play football. He hadn’t played in a year. Quinn had a great spring. We know what he’s about.”
Texas' backup: a big man with a big arm
But this Arch Manning …
He was, in a word, sensational.
The progeny of the First Family of American quarterbacks gave us a taste of a future that’s so bright that Timbuk 3 is contemplating a surprise throwback concert at the Mood. He completed 19-of-25 passes for 355 yards and a pair of touchdowns and led the White team to scores on his first four drives, three resulting in touchdowns.
Manning is listed at 6-foot-4, 220 pounds but he looked taller than that when Kirk Bohls and I bumped into him and teammate Michael Taaffe at Matt’s El Rancho a couple of weeks ago.
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He’s a big man with a big arm. Manning put a charge into the lower bowl at Royal-Memorial Stadium with a perfect 75-yard toss to DeAndre Moore on his first attempt, the first of 10 straight completions.
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To steal a line a from the basketball-verse, Arch was in his bag early. He zipped a post route to freshman Ryan Wingo, with whom he has developed some obvious chemistry, and then connected with running back Jaydon Blue for a 29-yard catch-and-run for another score. He even scrambled for a four yards for another first though it was understood that quarterbacks would not be touched on this day.
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Then, in true headliner fashion, he closed it with another 75-yarder score to Bond before third string quarterback Trey Owens — a freshman who turned some heads with his smooth, easy arm motion — led a late drive to give Orange a 35-34 win on a touchdown pass to Wingo.
Texas looks just fine in the quarterbacks department
As far what goals were met during the spring, Sarkisian has to be happy that his team apparently avoided any major injuries in a scrimmage of over 100 plays.
He has a talented quarterback room with one of the most experienced returning starters in the country — Ewers is being projected by some early mocks as a top-10 overall draft choice in 2025 — a potential superstar in Manning, who has four years of eligibility remaining, and Owens, who looked good in his DKR debut.
“It was great experience for Arch and (Owens) to play football for an extended amount of time,” he said. "They both did some tremendous things.”
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Someone always shines, and it was Manning
If we’re doing a player of the game in scrimmage, it was Manning. Sarkisian has been in his ear over the last couple of weeks about the subtleties of the position: dialing into the play at hand, keeping his eyes up, stepping up in the pocket and making solid deliveries down the field. Sark said sometimes tends to rely on vast athletic skills and he sent a message to the QB when he blew the whistle while Manning was in mid-scramble.
“I think he may have gotten mad at me,” Sarkisian said.
Chemistry is crazy important when it comes to passers and new pass catchers and now that spring football is over, the coach in Sarkisian will be a little on edge until the team reconvenes in June.
“May is the longest month of the year for me,” he said.
When Sarkisian transferred to BYU for his junior year, he went home to California for a month, but for his senior year, he went home for a week before returning to Provo to work out with his receivers. “I wanted to be around the guys,” he said.
To his part, Ewers said he will be having some throwing sessions up in Dallas during the break and I’m guessing his new receivers may take a weekend or two to join him, including Oregon State transfer Silas Bolden, who is joining the team after Memorial Day. Sarkisian said he expects the team to be gravitating back to Austin before they report back in the first week of June.
The Horns are good at quarterback.
It’s Ewers.
It’s Manning.
It’s Owens.
And a happy head coach.
This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Texas spring game revealed three strong options at quarterback
