No one will deny how good Quinn Ewers has looked this year and how much he’s grown as a QB during his time at Texas. But despite his growth, Ewers seems to be plagued by injury time and time again.
After leaving their game against UTSA in the second quarter with an abdominal injury, the prospect of Ewers starting against UL-Monroe seemed very, very unlikely.
This paved the way for Arch Manning, nephew of Peyton and Eli, to make his first collegiate start this past Saturday against UL-Monroe. Manning, who grew up in Louisiana, drew some interesting remarks from UL-Monroe DC Earnest Hill when Hill was asked about facing Manning:
Let’s dive into the Longhorns most recent contest and see how they faced against the Warhawks and whether that fearlessness was warranted.
Texas 51 – UL Monroe 3
In their final non-conference game before entering SEC play, the Longhorns decimated the UL-Monroe Warhawks.
The Longhorns jumped out to a quick 28-0 lead and never looked back, outgaining the Warhawks in total yards, 497 to 111, and TDs, 7 to 0.
Arch Manning is human?
Arch Manning had looked nearly flawless in the few games he’d seen action in prior to Saturday’s game. He was due to make a mistake. And in the first drive of the game that mistake came in the form of an interception by ULM’s Carl Fauntroy.
How did Arch respond? After a 3-and-out by ULM and 2 run plays from Texas RB Jaydon Blue, Arch connected with WR Isaiah Bond for a 56-yard bomb that set up the Longhorns for an easy TD.
The Longhorns scored on the next 3 drives, including 2 passing TDs from Arch, to push the score up to 28-0 before the half.
The second half of the game did not see Arch throw a passing TD, but he also did not throw another interception after getting picked off again right before halftime.
The second half flew by as the Longhorns continued to build their lead, ultimately winning the contest 51-3. More importantly, the Longhorns covered the -41.5 spread and improved to 4-0 ATS this year.
Arch also continued the trend of Mannings winning their first collegiate start:
Blue is Back!
Texas RB Jaydon Blue, who missed the UTSA game, came back with a vengeance and accounted for 4 Longhorn TDs (3 rushing, 1 passing).
With Texas’s RB room already thin due to the season-ending injuries to CJ Baxter and Christian Clark, it is good to see Blue back and performing at such a high level.
Blue led the Longhorns with 124 rushing yards on 25 carries. That’s 15 more than the next closest Longhorn player.
Longhorn Defense Continues to Stifle Opponents
Defensively, the Longhorns took care of business. UL-Monroe QB and OU transfer General Booty (yes, that is his name) threw for a measly 42 yards and was picked off once.
The Warhawks only had 111 yards of total offense, 7 first downs (Texas had 26) and scored only once via a Max Larson FG.
There’s only one team in the SEC that has given up less points than Texas – the Georgia Bulldogs. Texas is tied with Ole Miss, both with 22 points allowed this season.
The Longhorns have given up 2 TDs all year (1 vs Michigan, 1 vs UTSA) and their pass defense continues to show improvements from last year.
Week 5 Preview vs. Mississippi State
The Longhorns open up conference play in their first SEC season against the 1-3 Mississippi State Bulldogs.
Texas and Mississippi State have played 4 contests together with the last one coming in 1999. The series is split 2-2.
Texas may be without QB Quinn Ewers for a second-straight game as he continues to rehab the abdominal strain he suffered against UTSA.
If I had to guess, Ewers will sit out this week’s game. Then he’ll use the bye week to further his rehab in preparation of a return on 10/12 against Oklahoma.
Texas is a current -38.5 favorite against Mississippi State in Saturday’s matchup, line courtesy of FanDuel.
