Kirby Smart addresses potential defensive changes with Texas switching to Arch Manning

With Texas turning to Arch Manning at quarterback late in the first half while trailing Georgia, Kirby Smart knew his team might need to adjust for the rest of the game. However, the Longhorns opted to put Quinn Ewers back in at quarterback to start the second half.

Speaking on the ABC broadcast at halftime, Smart explained what changes for the Bulldogs trying to defend Manning as opposed to Ewers, who started. The main difference, Smart said, is that Manning is a bigger threat as a runner.

“Yeah, little better athlete. Can run,” Smart said. “They’ve got some runs mixed in there with him. He’s more apt to take off and scramble and he did there. He’s got really good legs and I said that going into the game, they could use him for wheels.”

As Smart alluded to, Manning pulled off a chunk scramble during his second drive, right before the half. But in two brief series before halftime, Manning couldn’t get much going and, in fact, had a turnover that led to a Georgia field goal and a 23-0 halftime deficit.

Smart lauded his defense and defensive coordinator Glenn Schumann for such a dominant first half.

But he also cautioned against complacency and stressed the need to turn the many field goals Georgia kicked in the first half into touchdowns.

“Well our guys are playing really hard,” Smart said. “Schumann’s done a good job putting some packages together that have helped us a little bit, disguise things. But we all know, lot of football to be played. We’ve gotta quit kicking field goals and score touchdowns.”

After a paltry offensive start against Georgia, Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian was quick to make the call to bench Ewers and put Manning in in the 2nd quarter.

The decision came as the Longhorns got into a first half hole, trailing 17-0 when Manning began to warm up. When he entered the game with around five minutes until halftime, Georgia had stretched the lead to 20-0.

At that point, Ewers was 6-for-12 passing for 17 yards and an interception. He also struggled to avoid the Georgia rush, and the Longhorns run game didn’t do much to aid the quarterback.

Manning’s first drive featured a first down gained via a facemask penalty, but the results for the sophomore weren’t much better than those of Ewers. The Georgia defensive front was still causing troubles and Manning went 1-for-4 for eight yards on the series, leading to a punt.

Manning played in four games in 2024 entering Saturday night, completing 70.5% of his passes for 901 yards and nine touchdowns with two interceptions, most of that production coming as the starter in lieu of an injured Ewers.

Ewers played in as many games entering Saturday, but had a bigger passing sample and completed a higher percentage of his passes, 72.2%. He entered with 890 yards and nine touchdowns and three interceptions.