Quinn Ewers Remains Listed As Questionable on Final Injury Report

The Texas Longhorns have yet to announce their starting quarterback vs. Mississippi State.

Texas Longhorns quarterback Quinn Ewers (3) looks for an open receiver during the game against UTSA at Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium in Austin Saturday, Sept. 14, 2024. / Aaron E. Martinez/American-Statesman / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

As of Friday evening, the Texas Longhorns have yet to name their starting quarterback vs. Mississippi State less than 24 hours before the game.

Head coach Steve Sarkisian said on Thursday that the team would announce the starter on Friday, but as Friday came and went, no such announcement was made.

And on the most recent SEC injury report on Friday, Quinn Ewers was still listed as questionable.

Elsewhere on the injury report, safety Derek Williams Jr. was listed as out, while receiver DeAndre Moore, safety Jelani McDonald, running back Quintrevion Wisner and EDGE Barry Sorrell were all listed as probable.

In each of the last two weeks since suffering his abdominal strain injury, Ewers has been listed as questionable, with his status being monitored every practice. However, Ewers did return to throwing this week, and it appears they are still leaving the door open for his return.

"He's improved every day," Sarkisian said. "It won't be a secret. We're not trying to pull the wool over anybody's eyes. We just want to give Quinn every opportunity to see if he's ready to play and what he looks like."

It now appears that the Horns will make Ewers a game-time decision on Saturday, giving Ewers every chance to prove he can go before they make the final call.

"He's gotta do enough to show me he can play," Sarkisian said Monday. "We've got a game plan, can he execute the game plan? That's really the truth. I wanna make sure he's healthy enough to play at a high level. I was impressed with where he was today."

That said, it would also come as no surprise if the Horns decide it safe on his injury front.

With Mississippi State struggling mightily on both sides of the ball, and a bye week before their trip to Dallas to face Oklahoma, there is no real reason to push him onto the field too early, and risk re-aggravating the injury.

Before the injury, Ewers was playing at a Heisman-caliber level, completing 73.4 percent of his passes for 691 yards and eight touchdowns with two interceptions over nine quarters of football.

If Ewers is unable to go, the Horns will once again go with red-shirt freshman Arch Manning, who got the start last week in his absence.

Kick off is set for 3:15 pm CT on SEC Network