Paul Finebaum evaluates whether Texas, Steve Sarkisian could bench Quinn Ewers for Arch Manning during CFP

Paul Finebaum isn’t expecting the Texas Longhorns to make the switch from Quinn Ewers to Arch Manning during their time in the College Football Playoff.

Steve Sarkisian’s bunch will begin their potential journey to a national title on Saturday, taking on the Clemson Tigers at 4:00 p.m. ET. Ahead of the all-important showdown, Finebaum joined Get Up on Friday morning, where he evaluated the possibility of Manning taking over the quarterback role from Ewers.

“I think they would have to be desperate,” Finebaum responded, regarding a potential situation where Manning could usurp Ewers during the contest, akin to when Tua Tagovailoa took over for Jalen Hurts at Alabama. “Steve Sarkisian has been so loyal to Quinn Ewers, and I don’t think he’ll take him out.

“They will have to be behind, and Quinn Ewers will have to be banged up. Otherwise, I think Arch Manning will just simply have to wait his turn until next year.”

While Sarkisian has tried to insert Manning to jumpstart the Texas offense throughout the 2024 campaign, doing so in the CFP would likely represent the end of Ewers’ time with the Longhorns. Manning is already waiting in the wings to start in 2025, and benching Ewers would only accelerate his timeline toward becoming Texas’ unquestioned starting quarterback.

Unless Ewers leaves him no choice, Finebaum doesn’t expect it to happen during the College Football Playoff. Stranger things have happened, and if the Longhorns find themselves in trouble, perhaps a switch could be made.

More on Arch Manning, Texas Longhorns

Meanwhile, ESPN’s Dan Orlovsky spoke about Texas’ plans at quarterback ahead of their College Football Playoff showdown. Simply put, Orlovsky thinks Arch Manning has to be a part of whatever the Longhorns do to win the national title.

Orlovsky is specifically discussing Manning being the option for Texas in the red zone considering his efficiency as a passer and runner. However, if Ewers struggles more, he could then just become their QB1.

“I do not think that they can win the whole thing unless Arch Manning plays a decent amount at quarterback,” Orlovsky stated. “… That’s where I think he has to play. I really believe Texas, in that situation, has to take Quinn Ewers out of the game and put Arch Manning in the game. Your question to Harry was if there’s a struggle, a short leash. I don’t even think the leash is the conversation. I think the plan has to be Arch Manning goes into the football game when Texas gets down towards that or in that red zone area. It has to be 11-on-11 football because the passing game? Down there, it hasn’t been as precise as it needs to be. They’re not going to – they might be able to squeak by a Clemson if they play offensively the way that they did in the SEC title game but they’re not going to beat anybody after that game.”

“It’s two things. I truly believe, again, down, like, first drive of the game and they get in the red zone? Arch Manning should go in the game. (If they’re losing 14-7 at halftime), Arch Manning has to go in the game. If Quinn continues to struggle? At some point, you’ve got to go have the Nick Saban cohones to go make the move.”

Sarkisian has stuck with Ewers through each of the past two seasons with Manning as his backup. Still, in a playoff, must-win scenario like they’ll be in from here on out, Orlovsky thinks quarterback has to stay under consideration for a team that can win it all like Texas.

“There’s two teams in the whole playoff that are boom-or-bust. One is Ohio State and one is Texas,” stated Orlovsky. “Both those teams are good enough to go win the whole thing and both those teams have been kind of roller coastery enough, specifically Texas on offense, to lose in the first weekend.”

On3’s Sam Gillenwater contributed to this article.