Joel Klatt reacts to Texas' QB situation, what to make of Arch Manning, Quinn Ewers moving forward

Fox Sports’ Joel Klatt totally understood why Steve Sarkisian benched Quinn Ewers for Arch Manning in the second quarter of Texas’ loss to Georgia.

Granted, Ewers came back in during the second half and tried to rally the troops. But as Klatt pointed out, Manning coming in was a search for a spark when nothing was going right for the Longhorns.

But it became a bigger deal based on who backs up Ewers: Manning.

“The reason this is a saga is the name of the backup quarterback,” Klatt said on his podcast. “What happened Saturday night between Steve Sarkisian, Quinn Ewers and Arch Manning was a case study in a coach that understood that his team and quarterback, to some degree, was kind of shell shocked over the course of about four series of football, and he had to change what was going on. 

“So to me, it wasn’t necessarily about the fact that he replaced Quinn Ewers with Arch Manning, as much as it was ‘Hey, my starter is really struggling out there. He’s not seeing it very well, I need him to settle down, and we might need a spark.’ And so he made a change at that point. When Arch Manning goes in the game, you have to understand one thing. As a quarterback, Quinn Ewers knows this, as soon as Arch jogs on the field, if he has success, it’s his job right there. And Sarkisian knows that he’s willing for that outcome to take place. If Arch marches down the field, then he goes back out for the next season series, if it’s still pretty good, he goes back out for the next series. That’s how football works.” 

Quinn Ewers, Arch Manning in unique situation

Ewers ended the game 25-of-43 passing for 211 yards, two touchdowns and an interception. Manning went just three of six for 19 yards.

“How do you pull a quarterback? And this is where I think that Steve Sarkisian is kind of dancing a fine line,” Klatt said. “And in particular, with all the stuff that has come out since then and some of their post game press conferences, (there are) three ways you can pull a quarterback. Number one, ‘Hey, man, you’re done. You’ve killed it. Put a hat on. We’re up 40.’ That’s the best way, right? That’s the best way. Number two, you jog off the field and they say, ‘Hey, we’re going to go with’ and then name the backup quarterback.

“‘We’re going to go with Arch here. Hey, we’re going to go with our backup.’ That’s not how you want to get pulled. Then there’s a third, a third way, which is, ‘hey, come settle down for a second. All right, and keep yourself in it. Come settle down. Okay, just come settle down,’ where you’re leaving the door open for that player to go back on the field.” 

As Klatt explained, it was perhaps a mental reset for Ewers. Now if Manning had played well and given Texas a chance to win the game, he would’ve stayed in.

“So he goes in at halftime, and that’s when (Ewers was) told, ‘Hey, you’re going to go back out there,’” Klatt said. “And by the way, it worked. It worked because he settled down and he played so much better in the second half, if you were to watch the game film. And you saw those three series to end this second quarter, his last three series, and then you see the series that he had to start the second half. You’re like, oh yeah, he’s way better. They’re way better. He’s clearly settled down. 

“Going forward, Quinn Ewers is the starter, as long as Steve Sarkisian keeps saying it that adamantly, that’s all we can believe and trust. And I do think that like Quinn should be better from this. If they use this as a learning experience, I think that they can become better, moving forward, and he said that it’s his job, and he’s not necessarily on notice. But as a quarterback, you gotta understand, you’ve got to go out there and you’ve got to play well in order to keep your job.”