Quinn Ewers 'Not Expected' to Play vs. Mississippi State

Texas Longhorns quarterback Quinn Ewers has been listed as questionable heading into the SEC opener vs. Mississippi State.

Texas quarterback Quinn Ewers (3) makes a pass against Michigan during the first half at Michigan Stadium in Ann Arbor on Saturday, September 7, 2024. / Junfu Han / USA TODAY NETWORK

AUSTIN -- Arch Manning could be set to get his second-career start in the Texas Longhorns' SEC opener Saturday vs. the Mississippi State Bulldogs.

Per reports from ESPN college football insider Pete Thamel, Texas quarterback Quinn Ewers is "not expected" to play Saturday as he continues to recover from the abdominal injury he suffered on Sept. 14 in the 56-7 win over the UTSA Roadrunners. The Longhorns have an open week after the Mississippi State game, which would allow Ewers to get an extra week of rest ahead of the Red River Rivalry against Oklahoma on Oct. 12 in Dallas.

Ewers, who returned to practice this week, has been listed as questionable on the three SEC student-athlete availability reports that Texas released ahead of Saturday.

"Texas quarterback Quinn Ewers is not expected to play against Mississippi State today, per ESPN sources," Thamel tweeted. "A final decision will be made later in the day, as Ewers is nearly 70-percent and the coaching staff is prioritizing full health for Oklahoma."

If Ewers doesn't play against Mississippi State, it will mark the seventh game of his career that he's missed due to injury. He missed three games during his first year as a Longhorn in 2022 and sat out two contests last year. Including this season, Texas has gone 5-1 in games Ewers has missed.

Texas coach Steve Sarkisian said Monday that Ewers had to "do enough" to show the coaching staff that he was ready for a return.

"We'll see how he goes throughout the week and monitor how he responds to tomorrow coming off of today's practice," Sarkisian said of Ewers. " ... He’s got to do enough to show me he can play. 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."

When meeting with the media via Zoom on Thursday, Sarkisian said that a decision on who would start would come Friday, but instead Ewers remained listed as questionable.

"He's improved every day," Sarkisian said Thursday. "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."

In Ewers' absence, Manning went 15 of 29 passing for 258 yards, two touchdowns and two interceptions in the 51-3 win over Louisiana-Monroe.

As for Ewers, he has gone 58 of 79 passing for 691 yards, eight touchdowns and two interceptions this season.

No. 1 Texas and Mississippi State kick off from Austin on Saturday at 3:15 p.m. CT.