Arch Manning dominant in relief of injured Texas QB Quinn Ewers

Touted Texas backup quarterback Arch Manning stepped in for the injured Quinn Ewers, and the No. 2 Longhorns’ offense didn’t miss a beat in a 56-7 rout of UTSA on Saturday night in Austin. 

Manning threw for 223 yards and four touchdowns and added a 67-yard rushing score in his most extensive playing time at the college level after Ewers exited in the second quarter because of an oblique strain.

Ewers appeared to suffer the noncontact injury on a pass to tight end Gunnar Helm for a 49-yard gain early in the second quarter. Ewers stayed in for one more play before leaving the game. He went into the locker room and returned to the sideline in street clothes just before halftime.

The redshirt junior starter threw for 185 yards on 14-of-16 passing with two touchdowns and an interception against the Roadrunners.

Manning entered the game with 12:19 left in the second quarter and completed 9 of 12 pass attempts in the blowout victory. On his first snap, he connected with wide receiver DeAndre Moore Jr. for a 19-yard touchdown.

The 6-foot-4, 225-pound redshirt freshman showed off his speed on the next drive by making a defender miss on a zone read run and dashing away for a 67-yard touchdown. The run was the longest by a Texas quarterback since Vince Young in 2005.

Manning took a 28-7 lead into halftime and built on it with a 51-yard touchdown pass to Isaiah Bond, a 75-yard score to Ryan Wingo and a 12-yard touchdown pass to Johntay Cook II early in the fourth quarter to end his night.

The Longhorns scored on five of his nine possessions and put up 614 total yards on 9.2 yards per play.

“It helps when you have great players around you and good coaches,” Manning said. “Isaiah Bond, Ryan Wingo, the O-line, they all played really well. They make it a little bit easier for me.”

Manning, the nephew of Eli and Peyton Manning, son of former Ole Miss wide receiver Cooper Manning and grandson of Archie Manning, appeared in two games during his redshirt season with the Longhorns in 2023. The former five-star recruit threw his first career touchdown pass in Texas’ season opener this year against Colorado State but had attempted only 11 passes at the college level entering Saturday.

“Obviously there’s a lot to improve on and grow from,” Manning said, “but I’m glad I got to get in there and get hit again and feel what it’s like.”

Longhorns coach Steve Sarkisian said the seriousness of Ewers’ injury “remains to be seen” but noted it doesn’t appear anything is broken.

“I think Quinn’s in pretty good spirits,” Sarkisian said. “I talked to him on the sidelines there. He was playing such good football. My hope is this isn’t a long-term thing, that we’ll get him back, because we need as many healthy good players as we can get for this journey that we’re on right now.”

Texas concludes its nonconference schedule Saturday against UL Monroe before making its SEC debut at home against Mississippi State on Sept. 28. The Longhorns then have an idle week before traveling to Dallas to face rival Oklahoma on Oct. 12.

Ewers, the Longhorns’ 25-game starter, previously sat out two games during the 2023 season because of an injured right shoulder and sat out three games in 2022 after sustaining a severe sprain of his SC joint.

After leading the program to a Big 12 title and College Football Playoff appearance last season, Ewers opted to bypass the NFL draft and returned to Texas to chase a national championship. Behind Ewers and Manning, Texas has only one other scholarship quarterback on its roster in true freshman Trey Owens. The four-star signee made his first appearance against UTSA and threw for 19 yards on 2-of-4 passing.

“Because Quinn’s been through it and I think because those other injuries he got with the shoulder were so structural and they were contact-type injuries, I think he’s probably in a little better spirits,” Sarkisian said. “We’ve got to do everything on our part to get him as healthy as we can as quickly as possible.”

Ewers entered the weekend as the consensus favorite to win the Heisman Trophy, listed at 5-1 by ESPN BET, after throwing for 246 yards and three touchdowns in a rout of No. 10 Michigan last Saturday. His odds lengthened to 18-1 on Saturday night after the injury, while Manning’s Heisman odds moved dramatically, shortening from 150-1 to 16-1 by ESPN BET.

Miami quarterback Cam Ward emerged as the consensus favorite to win the Heisman Trophy on Saturday at sportsbooks. Ward was listed at 5½-1 by ESPN BET on Saturday night.