Arch Manning will start. What other injuries did Texas coach Steve Sarkisian address?
Texas football coach Steve Sarkisian quickly answered the biggest question of the week during his weekly Zoom session with reporters Thursday when he stated that redshirt freshman Arch Manning will start in place of Quinn Ewers at quarterback Saturday against Louisiana-Monroe.
Ewers suffered an abdominal strain in the second quarter of last week’s 56-7 win over UTSA, and Sarkisian has said he remains week to week.
But Sarkisian also addressed some other key injury news, saying starting running back Jaydon Blue and backup Quintrevion Wisner as well as safety Jelani McDonald all will be game-time calls.
Blue, who has 79 yards on 20 carries and 74 yards and a touchdown on nine receptions, missed the UTSA game with an ankle injury. Wisner started and rushed for 20 yards on six carries but left the game before halftime after tweaking something in his lower body, Sarkisian said.
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McDonald, one of the four safeties who has rotated into the secondary this season, missed the UTSA game with an ankle injury. The sophomore has four tackles this season.
“In their own ways, varying, they were all limited to some degree,” Sarkisian said. “I think all those guys will be game-time decisions in varying degrees. I feel better about maybe a couple of them than another one. Again, we’ve got two full days, really 2? days, until kickoff to see how healthy we can get those guys and then, potentially, what we can get out of them.”
Jerrick Gibson in line for first career start
A four-star recruit rated as the nation’s third-best running back for the 2024 class by 247Sports, Gibson has had an impressive start to his career. And it could get even better Saturday, especially if he makes his first career start in place of the banged-up Blue and Wisner.
Gibson leads the team with 33 carries and 178 rushing yards and is tied with Manning for team-high honors with two rushing touchdowns. Perhaps his biggest downside? The 5-foot-10, 205-pounder from Florida runs with a physical style that belies his size, and he almost seems to seek out contact more than the open field. His longest run is 22 yards, but he thrives between the tackles.
“We've kind of nicknamed him the baby rhino because he will find contact,” Sarkisian said with a grin. “We're hoping maybe he can make a couple guys miss here Saturday night.
“Jerrick’s a really tough kid. He loves football, and he likes to be coached hard. I've never seen the guy shy away from contact, shy away from anything, shy away from another carry. It’s just that blue-collar mentality in him. He's hard on himself — I would say sometimes maybe a little too hard on himself — but that's just because he wants to play really well and wants to do right.”
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Steve Sarkisian: Quinn Ewers still Heisman favorite
Despite missing this week’s game and possibly the matchup against Mississippi State next week, Ewers remains the starter and a favorite to win the Heisman Trophy as the nation’s best player, Sarkisian emphasized. Texas has high-profile games against teams such as No. 1 Georgia, No. 13 Oklahoma and No. 24 Texas A&M later this season, and that means Ewers has plenty of time to make an impact at the national level.“I think we have a national championship-caliber team, and he's the quarterback of that team, and I think we still have that in front of us,” Sarkisian said. “I think with some of the games that we have coming up down the road, this guy's going to be in New York for the Heisman. Whether he wins it or not, he has the ability to do that, and I think he has ability to be a top-five NFL draft pick.
“So all the things that I think he's capable of are still out there for him, and him not playing in this game this Saturday is not going to impact those three things that I know are goals that we've set for him and that he's working towards.”
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Other Texas QBs ready for action
Trey Owens, a 6-5, 220-pound freshman, will be Manning’s backup against ULM. He attempted his first two career passes last week against UTSA, and Sarkisian said, “He’s really come along all week and had a very good practice (Thursday).”
“It’s different when you're doing a lot of scout-team work, and then you're trying to know the offense for a couple reps here and there, (and) you're running the game plan plays,” Sarkisian said. “But he’s done a good job, so I feel good about that.”
With Owens now the No, 2 quarterback, senior walk-on Cole Lourd will serve as the emergency quarterback. Lourd, from the Los Angeles area, is the grandson of former Texas offensive lineman Jim Bob Moffett, who helped the Longhorns win the Southwest Conference title in 1959. Sarkisian said he also has a complete understanding of the playbook, since he’s been with the head coach since his arrival in Austin in 2021.
“Cole, one of his best attributes, he knows our offense inside out,” Sarkisian said. “He's been with us now for quite some time. Every time we put him in there, he plays well. He played well in the spring game, so we could feel good about him as well.”
This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Texas football: Jerrick Gibson, Trey Owens might play more
