College Football

Texas QB Quinn Ewers remains questionable ahead of SEC play

Updated Sep. 23, 2024 3:56 p.m. ET

Texas quarterback Quinn Ewers is "questionable" for Saturday's SEC opener against Mississippi State, coach Steve Sarkisian said Monday.

Ewers practiced Monday morning, but Sarkisian said they will continue to monitor him and see how he responds throughout the week before making a final call about his availability.

"He's got to do enough to show me he can play," Sarkisian told reporters. "Can he execute the game plan? I want to make sure he's healthy enough to play at a high level. That's why I need to see how he responds to today's work and what it looks like on a Tuesday, then on a Wednesday, which are pretty heavy days for him, and then [see] how he rebounds on Thursday and so on and so forth. It's going to be kind of a work in progress.

"But today was a good start. I was actually impressed with where he was today."

Ewers, a Heisman Trophy contender, suffered an oblique strain in the second quarter of the Longhorns' 56-7 win over UTSA on Sept. 14, and was forced to miss this past week's 51-3 win over Louisiana-Monroe.

Backup quarterback Arch Manning has stepped up in Ewers' absence and in his first college start over the weekend, he went 15-for-29 for 258 yards with two touchdowns and two interceptions. It took a little while for him to settle into the game. Manning threw an interception on his first possession and made some questionable decisions on other throws. The redshirt freshman graded his own performance as a "C+" but added "a win's a win."

Sarkisian said the thing that impressed him the most was Manning's maturity and how he responded mentally.

"I've seen a lot of young quarterbacks have a rough start and then that rough start turns into a rough game," Sarkisian said. "But I thought he rebounded and did some nice things for us."

Sarkisian said the plan going into the ULM game was heavy on taking deep shots downfield, which Manning is confident in doing and likes doing. However, if he could go back in time, he probably would have changed some of those play calls.

"I'm kind of kicking myself a little," Sarkisian said. "I wish I had a few other kind of freebie completions for him just so that there could have been a little bit more balance, getting that completion percentage up, being efficient and moving the chains. But the explosive plays are great when you can hit them down the field. You just got to know when to check the ball down.

"Learning experience for him and learning experience for me too working with him."

Texas is arguably in a win-win situation regardless of Ewers' status this week. If he plays, the Horns get their starting QB back. If he sits, there's more time for him to rest before the schedule gets challenging, while Manning gains more experience and reps.

Looking ahead, the Longhorns are idle next week before a tough stretch of showdowns against No. 21 Oklahoma (Oct. 12) and No. 2 Georgia (Oct. 19). Sarkisian would love to have Ewers back by then, and won't rush the process.

"I think the beauty of it for Quinn and I is our time together, him having to come back from injuries previously, him knowing that him being honest with me is in his best interest and our best interest and things of that nature," Sarkisian said.

"I'll do everything in my power to put him in the best position to be successful if he plays. And if he doesn't, what does that look like moving forward? But I think our history together is probably the most beneficial thing that we have going for us this week."

Laken Litman covers college football, college basketball and soccer for FOX Sports. She previously wrote for Sports Illustrated, USA Today and The Indianapolis Star. She is the author of "Strong Like a Woman," published in spring 2022 to mark the 50th anniversary of Title IX. Follow her on Twitter @LakenLitman.