There's a degree of mystery at QB for each of the Texas Longhorns' next four opponents

The quarterback situations for the Texas Longhorns’ next four opponents can be best described as unpredictable. DJ Lagway of Florida, Taylen Green of Arkansas, and Brock Vandagriff of Kentucky all left their games on Saturday due to injury. While the Texas A&M Aggies have shown a proclivity for Marcel Reed at this point, Steve Sarkisian and company will likely be preparing for multiple quarterbacks for the rest of the regular season.

[Join Inside Texas TODAY with code HOOKEM and get 50% off annual memberships!]

Lagway was really starting to draw buzz for on-field exploits instead five-star hype following a win over Kentucky. Overall, his stats aren’t going anyone away, but those who have watched him play know he can be a very dangerous quarterback. Lagway had Florida ahead of Georgia 10-3 before leaving the game due to what looked like a pretty significant injury. However, the most recent update from Billy Napier was that the injury is supposedly not as bad as previously feared, and that Lagway may even have a chance at playing against Texas on Saturday. Napier’s level of honesty will be revealed by daily injury reports leading up to Saturday’s game.

The Texas coaching staff may be dubious of Lagway’s prospects of playing, but they will have to factor in those reports and seriously prepare like they will see the talented freshman. Third-stringer Aidan Warner didn’t look particularly fantastic in Lagway’s stead, but credit is due his way for making the most of a difficult situation against Georgia.

Following the Gators for the Longhorns is a trip to Fayetteville to face Arkansas, where another injury to another extremely talented quarterback occurred. In the first quarter of the Razorbacks’ blowout loss to Ole Miss, Green tried to tough out his first-quarter injury and remain in the game in the second 15 minutes, but ultimately was unable to go after halftime. Of note, Ole Miss was also up 42-10 after the Rebels scored a touchdown on the opening drive of the second half.

That led Sam Pittman and Bobby Petrino to elect to replace Green for the rest of the game. Malachi Singleton looked to be an effective replacement with a similar skillset. He was 11-for-14 for 207 yards and a touchdown and connected on more than just quick game and screen plays in a game that was a blowout for all of his snaps.

Luckily for the Texas coaching staff, the game plan for Arkansas at quarterback will likely be very similar no matter who is under center. Plus, regarding the severity of the injury, Green was seen jogging on the sidelines and assumedly could have played in a tighter ballgame. It would probably be well within the range of possibilities that he is back to starting by the time Texas travels to Fayetteville.

Continuing with Kentucky, Vandagriff was seen entering the locker room with a head injury after a violent sack from Tennessee’s James Pearce. His replacement Gavin Wimsatt was largely ineffective in relief. Considering Wimsatt has more rushing attempts than passing attempts, it could make for four-straight weeks of facing athletic quarterbacks with tangible rushing ability and varied passing acumen.

Lastly, there is the situation against Texas A&M. This one is tricky, because while Mike Elko kept Reed in for the entire South Carolina game (and credit to him for actually doing so), he and Collin Klein have already shown they are willing to make the switch at QB when they pulled Conner Weigman versus LSU.

Doing so resulted in a touchdown run from Reed and changed the shape of the game with the Tigers. Without that move, the Aggies probably lose to LSU.

This game against Texas is not a normal game, especially with it being a home game for the Aggies and an opportunity for revenge for 2011 (and a small prize thrown their direction upon Texas joining the SEC). Elko and Texas A&M will be all-in on winning that game and will likely do whatever it takes to walk away with a win against the Longhorns, even if it means playing multiple quarterbacks.

[Subscribe to the Inside Texas YouTube channel!]

After quite a few injuries to opposing QBs, the Texas coaching staff along with the rest of the support staff will be operating in overdrive to ensure all possibilities are prepared for in efforts to make an appearance in the SEC Championship. Trying to predict recovery without having notes from opposing trainers is a fool’s errand, so all that is left is to prepare for multiple quarterbacks each week to earn that appearance in Atlanta.