If you just look at the final score of 56-7, you’d think it was a normal game for this year’s Texas Longhorns against a Group of Five team like the UTSA Roadrunners.
But the Week 3 matchup was anything but normal. Texas lost Heisman favorite Quinn Ewers to injury early in the second quarter. Arch Manning was called into service and scored two touchdowns in his first three plays from scrimmage, one on a pass and one on a long run.
The Texas defense gave up a long touchdown, but looked stout the rest of the game.
It was a ‘Keep Austin Weird’ kind of night, but the result keeps the Longhorns on track to stay in the top three of the rankings and drive towards the college football playoffs.
Quinn Hurt
It looked like Quinn Ewers hurt his hand early in the first quarter. He seemed to shake that off by the third series of the game. But his fourth series would be his last. After a 49-yard pass to TE Gunnar Helm, the Longhorns QB seemed to be in a lot of pain and was holding his lower rib cage/abdomen. As the teams headed to the halftime, ESPN asked Texas coach Steve Sarkisian about the injury. Sark said it was a “strained abdomen.”
Arch Shines
Arch Manning took over for Quinn Ewers and the celebrity backup QB didn’t disappoint. Manning scored on his first play, a 19-yard pass to DeAndre Moore. On his second series, Arch ran for a 67-yard TD on the second play. Manning was take out of the game in the fourth quarter after going 9 of 12 for 223 yards and 4 TDs passing and 1 rushing TD. Manning looked as advertised.
From @ESPNStatsInfo: Texas QB Arch Manning is the third SEC player in the last 20 years with a 65-yard pass TD and a 65-yard rush TD in a game. The other two? Texas A&M’s Johnny Manziel in 2012 and Florida’s Anthony Richardson in 2021.
I’m sure no one will overreact to this 😂
— Adam Rittenberg (@ESPNRittenberg) September 15, 2024
There is no QB controversy
This will not be a Wally Pipp situation (the player Lou Gehrig replaced before setting the record for most consecutive games played). As good as Arch Manning looked, there is no chance Texas coach Steve Sarkisian doesn’t go back to Quinn Ewers when he is healthy enough to play again. Enjoy the fact that Texas has one of the best backup QB situations in college football and a bright future at the position. Now, might Sark give Ewers extra rest because of how good Arch looked? That’s a very good possibility. Expect Manning to start next week.
Stud WR Room
The Texas receiving corps continued to soar. Ten Longhorns caught passes from all three Texas QBs. Isaiah Bond caught five passes for two touchdowns and looked like the go-to guy. Super freshman Ryan Wingo had three catches for 127 yards and a touchdown. Silas Bolden was more involved with four receptions. Matthew Golden and DeAndre Moore each had three catches, Moore had a TD.
One Hiccup on Defense
The Texas defense looked strong all night, except for one play. One the second offensive play after Arch Manning’s first TD, UTSA running back made a couple moves, broke a tackle and raced to the endzone for a 53-yard touchdown. It was the longest TD scored on Texas this season.
This article originally appeared on Longhorns Wire: 5 big takeaways from Texas 56-7 domination of UTSA
