The Texas Longhorns were down 20-0 in the first half to the Georgia Bulldogs Saturday when head coach Steve Sarkisian made a quarterback change.
Sarkisian benched Quinn Ewers and put in redshirt freshman Arch Manning after Ewers went 6-for-12 for 17 yards with an interception.
Manning only played two series, going 3-for-6 for 19 yards.
Sarkisian then put Ewers back in for the second half, and Texas lost, 30-15.
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Former Texas A&M Aggies player Johnny Manziel watches from the sideline during the first half of a game between the Aggies and the Louisiana Monroe Warhawks at Kyle Field. (Troy Taormina/USA Today Sports)
Johnny Manziel, the 2012 Heisman Trophy winner, is having a hard time making sense of the decision to bench Ewers for a couple of series.
“You know, Coach Sark has come out and said that you know this is his guy, he is the starter, he is the leader of this football team. So, at no point throughout, would I ever think that I would see him have to go to the bench. I don’t think this is anything that you go to the sideline and take a look at anything or anything like that,” Manziel said during a recent episode of the “Big Bets on Campus” podcast.
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“This is a — I thought during the game — a really weird decision. Obviously, trying to get them a little bit of a spark going but didn’t really come to fruition the way they wanted to. Quinn Ewers is a guy they are expecting to be one of the first quarterbacks taken off the board in the NFL draft this year, and you send him to the bench. Doesn’t make a lot of sense to me,” Manziel added.
Georgia handed Texas its first loss of the season Saturday, dropping the Longhorns to No. 6 in the rankings, while Georgia rose to No. 2.
Texas Longhorns quarterback Quinn Ewers (3) drops back to pass against the Georgia Bulldogs during the first half at Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium. (Brett Patzke/Imagn Images)
Despite the benching in the middle of the game, Manziel doesn’t see any issues arising between Ewers and Manning.
“I don’t think it will be awkward. It seems like they have a good relationship. At that point in time, you’re going with what your coach says and trying to win a football game. And when you’re in the position they were in this week, they are really scraping and clawing for anything,” Manziel said.
“So, I’m sure they’ll be able to figure it out this week and come to a little bit of a resolution, but it is definitely going to have some fans chattering seeing Arch on the field.”
Manning held things down as Ewers’ replacement when Ewers strained an oblique. Manning threw four touchdowns on 12 passes after replacing Ewers in the Longhorns’ victory over UTSA.
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Texas Longhorns quarterback Arch Manning (16) runs the ball against the Georgia Bulldogs during the second quarter at Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium. (Brett Patzke/Imagn Images)
The Texas offense did not skip a beat without their top quarterback. Manning led the Longhorns to 86 combined points in his two starts in Ewers’ absence.
In those two starts, Manning threw for 583 yards while throwing four touchdowns and two interceptions.
Texas will look to bounce back when it takes on No. 25 Vanderbilt Saturday.
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Ryan Canfield is a digital production assistant for Fox News Digital.
