Urban Meyer evaluates Steve Sarkisian’s decision to bench Quinn Ewers, play Arch Manning

Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian made a decision in the second quarter of the Longhorns’ most recent game that was bound to stir up some conversation. Handing the keys of the offense to backup quarterback Arch Manning to close out the first half following some early struggles from starter Quinn Ewers.

The decision ultimately didn’t end up swinging the game, with Georgia knocking off top-ranked Texas in a 30-15 victory. But it has come with plenty of opinions, and on The Triple Option, former head coach Urban Meyer shared his take on Sarkisian’s decision with co-hosts Rob Stone and Mark Ingram.

“I think these discussions are had well in advance. I mean, it’s life in the big city,” Meyer said. “Whether you’re a right guard, quarterback, safety, or corner, if you are not playing well in places like Texas, Ohio State, Alabama, there’s quality people behind you. If Mark Ingram’s not playing good, you got a cat behind him, he’s going in. I would tell the quarterback the same thing and I would tell the team the same thing.”

There’s no question that competition and production are held to the highest level of importance at the top programs in college football, a sport where any player at any position can be replaced in the proper circumstances. But when the most famous backup quarterback in the nation is involved, attention is bound to come with it.

“The media will make it bigger than it is in locker room, if you’re not performing well as a punter, I’m gonna take you out and put the other putter in and I explain that,” Meyer added. “Those are conversations had well before the first half of the Georgia game.”

“I think that’s a bigger story for us and for Austin news stations or whatever. It is what it is.”

Ewers took back over in the second half and played much better than he did to start the game. But the damage had already been done by the Bulldogs and the outside noise surrounding the quarterback position will undoubtedly be louder this season for the Longhorns.

“I was on the Texas bandwagon for a while, that was the most dominant performance I’ve seen in quite a while. And I know Alabama‘s was the first half (against Georgia) and all that, but this one at Texas against what I thought (was) the legitimate number one team in a country and they just ripped them apart,” Meyer concluded.

Sarkisian’s management of the quarterback position has been applauded throughout Manning’s tenure with Texas, but it will be fascinating to see if his most recent choice has any sort of impact on Texas moving forward.