Steve Sarkisian explains the decision to play Arch Manning against Georgia

Top-ranked Texas gained 29 total yards on its first six drives in a 30-15 loss to No. 5 Georgia on Saturday night at DKR Memorial Stadium. Four of those drives ended in punts, one ended in a fumble and one ended in an interception.

Georgia took advantage of Texas’ offensive ineptitude, particularly the quarterback’s two turnovers Quinn Ewerswhereupon Bulldogs running back Trevor Etienne scored two of his three touchdowns on the night.

With Georgia leading 20-0 late in the second quarter, Longhorns head coach Steve Sarkisian made a change. There was a second-year signal-caller coming Arch Manning for Ewers, a third-year starter who was just 6 of 12 for 17 yards through the air at that point.

“I felt during the game that Quinn was a little uncomfortable and I just wanted to give him a chance to take a step back and regroup,” Sarkisian said after the game.

“I didn’t know if we were going to get a series with Arch or two, depending on how much time was left on the clock at halftime. So we just told Quinn, ‘Hey, we’re going to go here with Arch.’ Give them a chance to get to the locker room. Let’s regroup and then come back out in the second half.’ So that’s what we did.”

Sarkisian added: “I felt like it was effective. I thought Quinn came out and played a much better second half and played well in the third quarter.”

But first Manning tried the Texas offense. He also couldn’t get the unit under control. In fact, he fumbled on his second and final series as well. Georgia sophomore fullback Damon Wilson II Manning was stripped and released, and the junior linebacker was released Jalon Walker With 25 seconds left before halftime, he took the ball at the Texas 30-yard line. That was enough time for the Bulldogs to score three more points.

In Manning’s brief appearance, he completed three of six passes for 19 yards. His first drive stalled temporarily due to a Georgia face mask penalty. Manning moved the chains with a 21-yard run on his second drive and an eight-yard completion to the junior running back Jaydon Blue also kept things going. Unfortunately for Manning, consecutive sacks, including the drive-ending strip sack, thwarted any momentum he was building.

Manning was playing for Texas earlier this season when Ewers was sidelined with an oblique injury in Week 3 against UTSA. Manning thrived in that game as Ewers’ backup, leading the Longhorns to victories over Louisiana-Monroe and Mississippi State in the following weeks while making his first two career starts.

Along the way, Manning scored a total of ten touchdowns (eight passing, two rushing) with just two picks. He threw for 806 yards in that three-game stretch, not to mention his additional 82 yards on the ground.

Sarkisian dismissed any possible quarterback controversy after Saturday’s game.

“Quinn is our starting quarterback,” Sarkisian said after Texas’ first loss of the season. “I appreciate the fact that we are fortunate to have a replacement like Arch who can come in and provide a spark in some way. But at the end of the day, Quinn is our starter.”

Ewers completed 19 of 31 passes for 194 yards and two touchdowns in the second half against Georgia. Both goals came in the third quarter, at which point the score was 23:15 for Texas.

However, despite racking up 106 yards of total offense in the fourth quarter, Texas was unable to finish drives in the final frame. The Longhorns played catchup after Georgia scored a sure touchdown early in the quarter and turned the ball over on downs on all three fourth-quarter drives, including twice in the red zone.

“I think we need to do a better job with (Quinn),” Sarkisian said. “I think he would tell you he can play better, but we have to train better. Everyone has to get better so our offensive football team can perform better.”