Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian has spent the beginning of this week reiterating that Quinn Ewers is the Texas starting quarterback, something he might not even be having to do if it weren't for what former Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback Johnny Manziel said was a puzzling choice in the moment.
"Coach Sark has come out and said that [Ewers] is his guy, he's our starter, so at no point throughout would I ever think I would see him have to go to the bench," Manziel said during his weekly appearance on our own BBOC YouTube channel, Action Network's flagship college football platform. "I thought this was a really weird decision."
Why Texas Temporarily Benched Quinn Ewers for Arch Manning
With Texas trailing 20-0 in a game they would ultimately lose 30-15, Sarkisian temporarily benched Ewers in favor of heralded redshirt freshman Arch Manning. Ewers was 6-of-12 for 17 yards and an interception when he was benched, and after two Manning series' to end the half — one of which ended in a Manning fumble that set up a Georgia field goal — Ewers was back in the game for the second half and the rest of the game.
Sarkisian said the temporary benching was to get Ewers a chance to settle down and come out fresh for the second half and told reporters this week that Ewers remains his starting quarterback going forward.
Manziel, who won college football's most prestigious award as a redshirt freshman at Texas A&M in 2012 and went on to be a first-round pick in the NFL Draft, didn't agree with the logic behind the "reset" decision.
"I don't think it's a situation where you have to go to the sideline and look at something or anything like that," Manziel said. "Maybe they were trying to get a little bit of a spark going, but it didn't really come to fruition the way they wanted it to."
Quinn Ewers is a guy you're expecting to be, maybe one of the first quarterbacks off the board in the NFL Draft, and you send him to the bench. It doesn't make a lot of sense to me."
Texas Fans Eager to See Manning Take Over Staring QB Job
At the very least, the controversial decision has only fueled the growing cries from fans eager for the reins to the Texas offense to be fully handed over to the nephew of Peyton and Eli Manning. And while that may seem like it would make for an awkward quarterback room in Austin, Manziel downplayed that possibility.
"It seems like they have a good relationship, and you're really at the point where you're just going with what your coach says and trying to win football games," Manziel said. When you're in the position they were this week, they were just scraping and clawing for anything. So I'm sure they'll be able to figure it out this week and come to a resolution, but it definitely is going to have some fans chattering to see Arch on the field."
Ewers finished 25-of-43 for 211 yards, two touchdowns, and an interception in the loss, while Manning went 3-of-6 for 19 yards. As BBOC host Collin Wilson pointed out, the Ewers stat line doesn't tell the whole story of how badly Georgia's defense got to him, as advanced stats say he had just one big-time throw and six turnover-worthy plays.
Credit Georgia's Defense For Confusing Ewers, Texas Offense
Manziel credits Georgia's defensive scheme for creating the chaos that Ewers and the Texas offense saw on Saturday night.
"Quinn didn't have his best day, but I think Georgia gave him a bunch of different looks and really came after him and got pressure on him early," Manziel said. "[The Longhorns] were really out of sorts and didn't look like themselves. I think it's a big credit to Georgia getting on them early and not letting them breathe. That's a suffocating way to come out and play the game.
The home loss to Georgia dropped Texas from No. 1 in the AP poll down to No. 5, while Georgia jumped from No. 5 to No. 2, only behind the No. 1 Oregon Ducks. The Longhorns will look to bounce back this week with a tough road trip to Nashville to take on surprising No. 25-ranked Vanderbilt. Georgia, meanwhile, is on a bye week before its annual rivalry meeting with Florida.
Johnny Manziel appears weekly on Action Network's BBOC YouTube channel, with Johnny's Intangibles releasing every Monday and Johnny's Scramble Drill releasing every Friday. He also appears on BBOC Live, which airs every Saturday at 10:30 a.m. ET on the BBOC YouTube channel and the Action App.
