Quarterback Quinn Ewers is unlikely to start for No. 1 Texas in the Southeastern Conference against visiting Mississippi State on Saturday as he recovers from an injury, ESPN reports.
If Ewers is sidelined, Arch Manning will make his second consecutive start.
Ewers left the Longhorns’ September 14 win over UTSA due to an abdominal strain and was replaced by Manning. The redshirt freshman started in place of Evers last weekend in a 51-3 win over Louisiana-Monroe as Texas went 4-0.
ESPN reported that the decision will come Saturday ahead of the scheduled 4:15 p.m. ET start time in Austin.
Ewers’ practice was limited this week as coach Steve Sarkisian said he wanted to give him more rest.
In his first college start, Manning went 15 of 29 passing for 258 yards with two touchdowns and two interceptions against ULM. Relieving Evers in the UTSA game, Manning completed 9 of 12 passes for 223 yards with four TD passes and a 67-yard touchdown run.
Evers is 19-6 as a starter at Texas. He has 6,347 career passing yards, good for seventh in program history. His 45 passing touchdowns rank sixth.
He will have additional recovery time next week on a bye week with the Longhorns. They will return to play on October 12 against long-time rival Oklahoma, currently ranked 21st.
Mississippi State will be Texas’ first SEC opponent. The Bulldogs (1-3, 0-1 SEC) lost their conference opener to Florida 45-28 last weekend and lost quarterback Blake Schepen for the season to a shoulder injury.
Freshman signal-caller Michael Van Buren will get his first college start for the Bulldogs on Saturday.
–Field Level Media
