Steve Sarkisian explains Quinn Ewers' limited usage in spring game

Coming into the 2024 season, the Texas Longhorns and head coach Steve Sarkisian are secure in the quarterback position with returning starter Quinn Ewers. Despite that, fans didn’t get to see a lot of Ewers during the spring game.

After the game, Sarkisian explained that Ewers’ limited usage was the plan from the start. He felt the game was an opportunity to get younger players like Arch Manning a chance to play in the game and see live reps.

“That was totally the plan for Quinn,” Steve Sarkisian said. “That’s why Quinn and Arch were on the same team. I wanted Arch to be able to just go play football. He hadn’t really played in a year.”

Arch Manning is one of the biggest recruits in recent memory. He came to Texas in the Class of 2023 as a five-star recruit, according to the On3 Industry Rankings. He was the top-ranked quarterback and the top-ranked player overall in that class. Despite that, he saw very limited playing time as a true freshman, only getting in two games with five pass attempts.

So, because of that limited experience, Steve Sarkisian still has things to learn about Arch Manning and other backups like Trey Owens who haven’t played as much college football as Quinn Ewers.

“And I know what Quinn’s about,” Sarkisian said. “Quinn’s had a great spring. So, I felt like it was important to get Trey a lot of reps too, at this level.”

For his part, Ewers has been the starter for two seasons at Texas. During that time, he’s completed 64.3 percent of passes for 5,656 yards and 37 touchdowns.

Steve Sarkisian on Arch Manning’s spring game

One player who stood out for Texas was backup quarterback Arch Manning, who had 300 yards and three touchdowns in the spring game. It was, for Steve Sarkisian, a very impressive performance.

“The biggest thing I saw from Arch was something we really harped on with him about a week and a half ago about just dialing into playing the play, keeping your eyes up. When he gets himself in trouble at times is when he relies on his athleticism, which he has a ton of. There’s times today I blew the whistle on him and I don’t know if he was really happy with me that I blew it, but he’s non-contact,” Sarkisian said.

“But when he keeps his eyes up and steps up in the pocket, he can deliver those balls down the field the way we like to play. So it was good to see and it was good to see some of the guys around him play with him the way that they did.”