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3 big overreactions after Texas's Senior Day win v. Kentucky

No. 3 Texas is one game away from punching its ticket to the SEC Championship Game if it beats Texas A&M in College Station in the regular season finale on Nov. 30.

By Andrew Miller

Quinn Ewers, Texas football
Quinn Ewers, Texas football / Ricardo B. Brazziell/American-Statesman / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images
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Arch Manning, Texas football
Arch Manning, Texas football / Scott Wachter-Imagn Images

Arch Manning should start Texas's rivalry game vs. Texas A&M

One of the biggest storylines coming out of the win over Kentucky yesterday was the injury status for redshirt junior quarterback Quinn Ewers. In the middle of the game in yesterday's win over the Wildcats, Ewers suffered an ankle injury when he was brought down awkwardly on a short down-and-distance QB keeper run play.

Ewers was limping around on that ankle for the rest of the game.

I don't know whether Ewers' ankle injury was the only cause of his issues passing the ball in the second half, but Texas's offense was much more stagnant through the air in the second half than the first. In the game's first half, Ewers passed for 177 yards and two touchdowns on 26 pass attempts.

Ewers' passing game production fell off a cliff in the second half, completing 3-of-5 attempts for zero passing yards, no touchdowns, and a fumble that resulted in a scoop-and-score.

Orangebloods' Anwar Richardson reported on Nov. 24 that Ewers "only has a mild ankle sprain" and that he should "be good to go for Texas A&M" on Nov. 30.

There were calls yesterday for redshirt freshman Arch Manning to replace Ewers at quarterback for Texas after Quinn was limping around on that ankle in the second half against Kentucky yesterday. Sarkisian stuck with Ewers through the end of the game, which worked considering the tremendous day of production from Texas's ground game on offense.

Sarkisian has made it clear down the stretch this season that Ewers is the guy who is leading Texas's offense. But if Ewers is still dealing with lingering ankle injury issues against Texas A&M, I think it's worth considering the move to Manning if it's really impacting Ewers and the Texas offense.

Texas A&M does have a very capable defense that can get consistent pressure on the opposing team's quarterback. Something to consider against Texas A&M also is that its defense ranks in the top half of the SEC in sacks per game and in the top five in pressure rate.

Arch's mobility and deep-ball throwing ability would be helpful to giving Texas's offense more options to open up the playbook against a stout Texas A&M defensive front next weekend, if Ewers is hampered by the lower-body injury on Nov. 30.

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