Getty Image / Tim Warner
When the Texas Longhorns landed a commitment from Arch Manning, it seemed like there was some potential for them to have a major quarterback competition before the 2023 season.
Manning was one of the highest profile recruits we’ve ever seen in college football.
Meanwhile, the Longhorns already had a returning starter from last season.
Before today, Longhorns coach Steve Sarkisian had yet to announce who would actually get the job.
Today, Longhorns fans got their first chance to see Manning in their team’s uniform.
After the game, Sarkisian said that he thinks it’s pretty clear who the starter will be. It is going to be Quinn Ewers.
Steve Sarkisian: "I think it's pretty clear to say, Quinn is our starting quarterback."
— Chris Hummer (@chris_hummer) April 15, 2023
That news might be a surprise to some who expected Manning’s name to mean he would be starting immediately in college, but past reports have said that he would likely spend his first year developing into a starter at this level.
Ewers was a pretty highly-touted prospect in his own right a couple of years ago. Unfortunately, he never saw the field for the team that originally recruited him, Ohio State.
After he transferred to Texas, Ewers won the starting job and made a solid case that he should keep it.
Despite missing a bit of time with an injury, Ewers threw for just under 2200 yards in his sophomore season while leading a Longhorns team that finished ranked in the top 25.
He’ll get the chance to lead Texas from under center again in 2023 and there will be big expectations for him and for the Longhorns.
After that season, things will get really interesting for the Longhorns as Ewers would be heading into his senior season while many will also be expecting to see Manning take over as the team’s starter.
Quinn Ewers will need to have a big sophomore season to make sure Manning doesn’t take his job as the starting QB for the Longhorns.