Report: Steve Sarkisian 'has an idea' of who Texas starting quarterback will be

The Texas quarterback competition between Quinn Ewers and Hudson Card is one of the storylines of Steve Sarkisian’s second year at the helm. It sounds like a decision could be coming, too.

The same week he said the competition was “tight,” Sarkisian spoke with ESPN’s Chris Low and said he “has an idea” of who the Longhorns’ starter will be. He didn’t want to name the winner of the competition just yet, but added he hopes to tell the players soon.

Card was with the team last year alongside Casey Thompson, who transferred to Nebraska over the offseason. But Texas also dove into the transfer portal to land Ewers from Ohio State after he became the No. 4 transfer to hit the portal, according to the 2021 On3 Transfer Portal Rankings. He once committed to the Longhorns before re-classifying and heading to Ohio State after fall camp, which is why Sarkisian said he’s in a similar spot to a freshman quarterback.

“Last year was difficult in having two players that were new to the [offensive] system, and that’s always hard, especially when one of them isn’t a returning starter who had really been in the fire,” Sarkisian told Low. “This year, even though they’re new, Hudson’s got a little experience, and Quinn is coming in from another program. The reality is Quinn should really be a freshman in college. He reclassified after preseason camp had started. It was kind of a wash of a season for him.”

One thing’s for sure, though. Sarkisian said he doesn’t want to rotate quarterbacks this season because it could throw off the groove of the offense, and that would make things tough as the season goes on.

“I think it’s hard for a quarterback to get into rhythm that way, and I think you play differently knowing, ‘Hey, I don’t know how many throws I’m going to get,’ and you take too many chances,” Sarkisian said. “I just don’t think the decision-making is very good.”

Whichever quarterback lands the job — no matter when they find out — will lead the Longhorns in their first game Sept. 3 when they take on Louisiana-Monroe.