The Texas Longhorns are the No. 1 team in all of college football. It won't be official unless the win the national championship, but now it feels like Longhorns Nation can finally say "Texas is back."
Texas is in a great spot to contend the rest of the season. They lost their starting quarterback Quinn Ewers to an injury, but backup Arch Manning picked up the slack and helped lead Texas to two wins in the interim.
The Longhorns have already gotten their first taste of SEC football. Texas beat Mississippi State 35-13 in Week 5 and then had a bye week last week. Despite being in a new conference, Texas will face an extremely familiar foe in Week 7 as they take on the Oklahoma Sooners in this year's Red River Rivalry.
The biggest question facing the Longhorns ahead of this important game is who will start under center. Here are the latest updates for which quarterback will be the starter Saturday.
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Will Quinn Ewers or Arch Manning start this week?
Ewers is likely going to be the starting quarterback whenever he is fully healthy. Manning has been great in relief, but Ewers didn't do anything to lose his job before the injury, and Manning hasn't made it obvious he should take the starting job. Manning, however, has played well enough that Ewers' leash may have gotten shorter.
Ewers is on track to start against Oklahoma. The Longhorns are coming off their bye and Ewers was able to practice. Head coach Steve Sarkisian told reporters he "feels good" about Ewers' availability.
"I thought he looked good coming off the bye. I think if anybody benefitted from the time off, it was probably him. We're going to monitor him daily just to kind of see how he continues to progress. But I feel good about how he was today. I feel good about him going into Saturday, but that remains to be seen."
The head coach also expanded that if the game was Monday, Ewers would be listed the starter.
Sarkisian made the move official on Thursday. Ewers will start against Oklahoma on Saturday.
Texas QB Quinn Ewers will return to the starting lineup Saturday vs. Oklahoma, Steve Sarkisian announced🤘https://t.co/inR5f0d6M2 pic.twitter.com/S6vREseS8I
— On3 (@On3sports) October 10, 2024
What happened to Quinn Ewers?
Ewers last played for Texas in Week 3 against UTSA. In that game, he sustained a strained oblique, and wasn't able to finish. Manning took over and has been the starting quarterback in Texas' last two games.
Ewers' oblique injury wasn't completely uncommon for college football, but generally occurs in baseball players. Still, it was enough to label the quarterback week-to-week. He hasn't played since September 14.
Quinn Ewers stats 2024
Ewers has played in two and a half games for Texas. He helped rout Colorado State 52-0 in Week 1 and picked up a huge win over Michigan 31-12 in Week 2.
| Completions | Attempts | Passing Yards | Passing TDs | Interceptions | |
| Colorado St. | 20 | 27 | 260 | 3 | 1 |
| Michigan | 24 | 36 | 246 | 3 | 0 |
| UTSA | 14 | 16 | 185 | 2 | 1 |
| Totals (3 games) | 58 | 79 | 691 | 8 | 2 |
Arch Manning stats 2024
Manning saw some time in the Week 1 blowout over Colorado State. Other than that he took over for Ewers against UTSA and started against both UL-Monroe and Mississippi State. The Longhorns won both games started by Manning.
| Completions | Attempts | Passing Yards | Passing TDs | Interceptions | Rushing Yards | Rushing TDs | |
| Colorado State | 5 | 6 | 95 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| UTSA | 9 | 12 | 223 | 4 | 0 | 53 | 1 |
| ULM | 15 | 29 | 258 | 2 | 2 | -4 | 0 |
| Mississippi St. | 26 | 31 | 325 | 2 | 0 | 33 | 1 |
| Totals (4 games) | 55 | 78 | 901 | 9 | 2 | 82 | 3 |
