College Football World Rocked By Arch Manning Coming in for Quinn Ewers vs. Georgia

Texas made a bold decision Saturday.
Arch Manning before Texas's game against Okalhoma.
Arch Manning before Texas's game against Okalhoma. / Aaron E. Martinez/Austin American-Statesman / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

On Saturday, No. 1 Texas fell down 20–0 to No. 5 Georgia in one of the most hotly anticipated college football games of the season. The Longhorns desperately needed a spark.

Instead, coach Steve Sarkisian summoned an inferno.

Sarkisian stunned the college football world by inserting quarterback Arch Manning as a replacement for Quinn Ewers, igniting a quarterback controversy where almost none had previously existed. Manning had relieved Ewers when the latter was injured earlier this season, but this was something altogether different: a seemingly healthy Ewers seemingly being benched for a subpar performance against the Bulldogs.

College football fans and observers had a lot to say about an event many thought wouldn't happen in 2024.

Some questioned the move.

Some embraced it.

Many questioned whether Ewers had viability as a top-tier NFL prospect after this.

Even as Ewers started to struggle, the whispers began.

Clamoring for Manning was not limited to fans, however; those tasked with covering Texas expressed similar thoughts.

Other fanbase immediately began willing Ewers into the transfer portal.

The question, for many, what was kind of chaos Sarkisian would stir up with his decision.

We'll all just have to wait to find out.


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Patrick Andres
PATRICK ANDRES

Patrick Andres is a staff writer on the Breaking and Trending News team at Sports Illustrated. He joined SI in December 2022, having worked for The Blade, Athlon Sports, Fear the Sword and Diamond Digest. Andres has covered everything from zero-attendance Big Ten basketball to a seven-overtime college football game. He is a graduate of Northwestern University's Medill School of Journalism with a double major in history .