The competition to be the starting quarterback at Texas is pretty one-sided after sophomore Quinn Ewers put on a strong performance during the annual Orange-White game on Saturday.
Longhorns coach Steve Sarkisian said after the affair in Austin that Ewers will enter the fall as the team’s starting quarterback.
Ballyhooed freshman Arch Manning was supposed to push the incumbent during the spring, but the only thing that has occurred is Ewers tightening his hold on the position. On Saturday, he completed 16 of 23 passes for 195 yards and one touchdown, a 13-yarder to junior wide receiver AD Mitchell.
“I thought Quinn was really efficient today,” Sarkisian said. “I think it’s pretty clear to say Quinn’s our starting quarterback and we feel very good about that.”
Ewers passed for 2,177 yards, 15 touchdowns and six interceptions in 10 games last season. He missed three games with an injury to his non-throwing shoulder.
Ewers said he has worked on his conditioning and his mental game since the end of last season, his first as a college starter.
“Obviously, something had to change if I wanted to end up where I want to be in the future,” Ewers said. “I’m starting right here. I’m eating a lot better. I’m doing all the small things a lot harder, and I’m excited.”
Manning, a nephew of former NFL stars Peyton and Eli Manning, was just 5-of-13 passing for 30 yards.
Manning, an incoming freshman, appears to be battling redshirt freshman Maalik Murphy for the backup gig. Murphy completed 9 of 13 passes for 165 yards, including a 79-yard scoring pass to Johntay Cook.
Murphy was hampered by a leg injury last season, his first on campus.
“The beauty of it is I don’t have to establish a pecking order right now — that’s the beauty of it,” Sarkisian said. “We have another 29 practices to go in fall camp. I think to be fair to all these guys, like Maalik, that was his first spring that he’s ever had. He didn’t get spring a year ago and of that, he missed the first about five practices before he really was able to go in team drills. So what does that look like moving forward?
“Arch, those are his first 15 practices of his life in college. So sometimes we can rush to judgment on where guys are at.”
–Field Level Media