REPORT: Texas Longhorns charge QB Arch Manning $200k under suspension.
Steve Sarkisian did not allow any uncertainty to grow over who would lead his Texas football team in 2024 between incumbent starting quarterback Quinn Ewers and the five-star prodigy from football royalty, Arch Manning.
It was Ewers, after all, who led the Longhorns back to a conference title in their final season in the Big 12 — not to mention a first-ever College Football Playoff berth. And though Manning moved up to the Longhorns’ second string after 2023 backup quarterback Maalik Murphy transferred to Duke, Ewers’ decision to forego the NFL Draft and return for another year of college means the starting job remains his.
Sarkisian confirmed as much to reporters on Feb. 7, and he expanded on that topic during a recent appearance on FOX Sports analyst Keyshawn Johnson’s podcast, “All Facts No Brakes.”
“I’m a little bit old school on some of this stuff,” Sarkisian told Johnson. “I understand that in this day in age of recruiting and social media, everybody wants to be the five-star and come in right away and have instant impact and things of that nature. But I’m a little bit of the belief that there’s a developmental side to our game, so that when you do play, you play great football, and that you have longevity in your career when you do get to the NFL because you’re prepared for that time when you get there.”
In that spirit, Sarkisian thinks it will benefit Ewers to get his total number of career college starts up into the 30s and gain more experience and maturity being a leader of a team. Better durability wouldn’t hurt either, as Ewers has missed games due to injury in each of the past two seasons.
“And I think for Arch,” Sarkisian said, “what a great opportunity as a backup now this year, in his second season, going to get some definite playing time. We’re looking forward to him doing that, watching his maturation and growth. I think for both of these guys, this is going to be the best for them for their futures, so that they can play the best football.
“We’re fortunate. I’ve never been anywhere where we haven’t had quarterbacks, and so we’re fortunate to have those two guys right now as guys that go out and lead our offense, lead our team.”
Ewers started 12 games for the Longhorns last season, finishing with 3,479 passing yards (just under 290 per game), 22 touchdowns and six interceptions on a 69% completion rate. That included a 452-yard, four-touchdown clinic against Oklahoma State in the Big 12 title game and 318 yards with another touchdown — and a season-high 54 rush yards — in Texas’ narrow Sugar Bowl defeat against eventual national runner-up Washington.
That Sugar Bowl still haunts Sarkisian, but he is keeping things in perspective when looking at the past two teams to win college football national titles.
“We came out of the locker room at halftime, tie game 21-all, and next thing you know, we have two turnovers in our first nine plays [in the second half],” Sarkisian said. “So how do we continue to grow as a program to not put ourselves and have to be that tight of a situation, and if we are in that situation, [how can we] execute at a really high level, and try to come out on top?