Texas Football: Casey Thompson the reported starter vs. Rice

A bad outing for No. 15 ranked Texas football and new head coach Steve Sarkisian didn’t see too many positives emerge coming out of the weekend. One of the lone positives from this humbling loss for Texas at the hands of the longtime rival Arkansas Razorbacks and head coach Sam Pittman was the play of redshirt junior quarterback Casey Thompson coming on in relief of sophomore Hudson Card.

Thompson looked good for Sark and the Longhorns in the loss to Arkansas. But it was all for naught by the time that Sark had pulled Card for Thompson in the second half, as Texas was already down by a few possessions with nearly no momentum on their side.

But that was apparently enough for Sark to make the necessary move and reportedly announce that Thompson “will replace” Card as the starting quarterback in Week 3. Thompson will start for the Longhorns in the home matchup next weekend against the Rice Owls out of Conference-USA.

Casey Thompson reportedly set to start at QB over Hudson Card for Texas football against Rice in Week 3

This report also mentioned that Sark and the Longhorns are looking to get Card some reps too against Rice.

It does feel like all of the momentum is on Thompson’s side to lead this Longhorns offense. Once Thompson took over for Card in the loss to Arkansas, it was really the only time that felt like the Texas offense could stick around in that game.

The only quarterback that registered a touchdown in the loss to Arkansas for the Longhorns was Thompson. In fact, the only scoring drive that Card led over the weekend was thanks to a red zone start for field position off a nice interception from safety BJ Foster. That scoring drive finished with a rushing touchdown from star running back Bijan Robinson.

For now, this is good news that it is confirmed that Thompson will be the starting quarterback against Rice. If he at least shows some level of an ability to lead this offense again next weekend, it should be Thompson that is the starting quarterback against the Texas Tech Red Raiders in the Big 12 opener.

Thompson and the Longhorns are set to carry a record of 1-1 into the Sep. 18 meeting with Rice following the 40-21 loss to Arkansas on Sep. 11. Kickoff time between Texas and Rice is set for 7 p.m. CT at DKR on Sep. 18.