Nick Saban weighs in on Texas' Arch Manning-Quinn Ewers debate
One of the biggest stories in college football at the moment is the Texas quarterback situation. Quinn Ewers has played well so far this season and is in the Heisman discussion, but Arch Manning is replacing him as the starter this week against Louisiana Monroe after Ewers suffered an injury against UTSA.
Former Alabama head coach and current ESPN analyst Nick Saban weighed in on the Texas quarterback situation on The Pat McAfee Show on Friday.
Saban feels strongly that Ewers should regain his starting quarterback spot when he returns from his injury.
“I think what [Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian] did in the press conference yesterday sort of sent the message loud and clear that we have a championship caliber team and have an opportunity to maybe do something special with this team and Quinn Ewers is the quarterback,” Nick Saban said. “And I think that’s probably the way it should be.”
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Through three games this season, Quinn Ewers is completing 73 percent of his passes for 691 yards. He has 8 touchdowns and 2 interceptions.
As for Arch Manning, in limited playing time he is completing nearly 78 percent of his passes for 318 yards, with 5 touchdowns and no picks.
Nick Saban acknowledged that Manning is very talented, but instead of creating a quarterback controversy, he believes Texas should use having two really good quarterbacks as a positive and keep Manning ready once Ewers returns.
“Arch is a very talented guy. He played great in the spring game. He played really well when he had to come in the game last week. And I think that’s the key to it,” Saban said. “Because Quinn Ewers has a history of missing a few games in the last couple of years. So to have an adequate backup that can go in there and take advantage of the weapons you have on offense is really, really important.
“But if you sat around and asked the players on the team, like I always had a leadership group and I’d say, ‘Hey guys, who do you think the quarterback should be?’ They all know who the quarterback should be, and right now Quinn Ewers has been the guy that has the leadership, probably has the locker room.”
The future is bright for Manning and Texas, according to Saban, but right now Ewers should be the guy when healthy.
“Arch is going to be a fantastic player, and he’ll play great this year when he has to play,” Saban said. “But he probably thinks he should be the backup, needs the time to develop, and Quinn Ewers will do great for them and Arch will be ready if they need him.”