Longhorns Country

Quinn Ewers Officially Set to Start for Texas Longhorns vs. Oklahoma Sooners

Quinn Ewers is officially set to start for the Texas Longhorns in the Red River Rivalry vs. the Oklahoma Sooners.

Matt Galatzan

Sep 14, 2024; Austin, Texas, USA; Texas Longhorns quarterback Quinn Ewers (3) enters the field to warm up for the game against Texas-San Antonio at Texas at Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Scott Wachter-Imagn Images
Sep 14, 2024; Austin, Texas, USA; Texas Longhorns quarterback Quinn Ewers (3) enters the field to warm up for the game against Texas-San Antonio at Texas at Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Scott Wachter-Imagn Images / Scott Wachter-Imagn Images
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AUSTIN - The Texas Longhorns are getting healthy at just the right time.

According to head coach Steve Sarkisian during his Thursday media session, quarterback Quinn Ewers is officially set to return to the field and start for the Longhorns vs. the Oklahoma Sooners in the Red River Rivalry.

"Quinn's going to start Saturday," Sarkisian said.

Sarkisian's announcement comes just one day after the Ewers appeared on the SEC Injury Report as 'probable.' Ewers had been out since early in the second quarter in the Longhorns' Week 3 matchup vs. UTSA with an abdominal strain.

And Sarkisian expects a big day from Ewers upon his return to the lineup.

"I think Quinn has shown over his time that when he’s been injured, he’s engaged," Sarkisian said. "He comes back, and he plays really good football coming off of injury.”

Before his injury, Ewers was seen as the Heisman Trophy front runner, completing 73 percent of his passes for 691 yards and eight touchdowns with just two picks, with a QBR of 86.7. In fact, even after missing the last two weeks, Ewers still sits with the eighth-best odds to win the Award at +2500, with plenty of seasons to go.

In relief of Ewers, redshirt Freshman Arch Manning entered the starting role and performed extremely well, completing 70.5 percent of his passes for 900 yards and nine touchdowns, with two interceptions, and a QBR of 85.8.

That said, there is no question that the Longhorns will be thrilled to have their leader back under center for what will be a difficult slate of SEC football.

Over the next four games, following their bye week, the Horns will face off with the No. No. 19 Oklahoma Sooners in Dallas on October 12, followed by a matchup vs. No. 5 Georgia on October 19, and a trip to Nashville to take on Vanderbilt for their first SEC road test. After that, home matchups vs. Florida and Kentucky, and road tests vs. Arkansas and Texas A&M still remain as well.

And fortunately for the Horns, it appears that the battled-tested Ewers will be ready to go for that stretch.

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Matt Galatzan
MATT GALATZAN

Matt Galatzan is the Managing Editor and Publisher of Texas Longhorns In SI and Texas A&M Aggies On SI and a long-time member of the Football Writer’s Association of America. He graduated from the University of Mississippi, where he studied integrated marketing communications, with minors in journalism and business administration. Galatzan started in the sports journalism industry in 2014 covering the Dallas Mavericks with the 247Sports network. He also spent two years covering the SMU Mustangs for PonyStampede.com for 247Sports. He then moved over to Sports Illustrated's Fan Nation network in 2020, eventually being taking over as the Managing Editor and Publisher of the Longhorns and Aggies sites a year later. Through the years, Galatzan has conducted a handful of high-profile one-on-one interviews to add to his resume — in both writing and podcasting. Some of his biggest interviews have been with Mavs owner Mark Cuban, NBA legend Dirk Nowitzki, ex Longhorns Dan Neil and Phil Dawson, FOX News and former ESPN host Will Cain, as well as countless other recruits and former players for each of the teams he has covered. You can find Galatzan on all major social media channels, including Twitter on @MattGalatzan.

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