Should Texas have benched Quinn Ewers vs. UGA?

Texas football suffered its first loss of the 2024 season at the hands of Georgia football 30-15 in Austin on Saturday night. The Bulldogs controlled the entire game from start to finish and even led 23-0 at halftime. However, prior to halftime, the Longhorns made a surprising quarterback change that saw redhsirt freshman quarterback Arch Manning replace Quinn Ewers in the second quarter. Should Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian have done that?

Ewers struggled against the Bulldogs defense from the very beginning. The former Ohio State quarterback struggled against the Bulldogs consistent pass rush and the run game couldn't muster much production either. Ewers, before getting benched, went 6/12 for 17 passing yards and an interception. Furthermore, the Longhorns were already in a 20-0 hole just before intermission.

In hopes to maybe dig the Longhorns out of the hole, Sarkisian decided to put in Manning with just about five minutes left in the second quarter. Manning had a few impressive plays, but he struggled immensely as well and went 3/6 for 19 yards. As a unit, Ewers and Manning combined for only an average of 3.1 yards per pass attempt, respectively.

The question is however, should Ewers have been benched? Yes, he came back in the second half, but why would Sarkisian bench his best player that quickly? Ewers is projected to be one of the top prospects in the upcoming 2025 NFL Draft and him getting benched that early in arguably one of the biggest games of the year isn't a good look.

What if Manning had went in and perhaps led the Longhorns to a comeback win? Sure, that would be great for Texas, but now Ewers's stock and perception would start getting skewed by scouts and NFL draft personnel.

The 2024 season is Ewers last go-round in college football and Manning will be the de-fact-to man on campus in 2025. Ewers led the Longhorns to a Big-12 title win (first since 2009) and its first-ever College Football Playoff berth in 2023. There is absolutely no reason Ewers should have been benched unless it was late in the fourth quarter and the score deficit was severely out of reach.

A 17-0 deficit in only the second quarter? Yes, the Bulldogs were having their way early on, but its college football, anything can happen.

All in all, things like that can taint a quarterback's confidence, but now the Longhorns must turn its attention to the Vanderbilt Commodores, who no longer look like SEC fodder anymore.