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After a hard-fought win over Texas A&M, Texas football has advanced to the SEC Championship Game where it will get a chance for revenge against Georgia. The Longhorns have played very good football for most of the season even while dealing with multiple injuries to quarterback Quinn Ewers.
Ewers' latest injury is an ankle sprain, which has not forced him to miss any time but it has hampered his movement. Ewers' ankle was heavily wrapped and protected by a big brace during Saturday night's win in College Station, but it never seemed to affect his ability to throw the ball. At one point, Ewers was even able to break off a clutch scramble to move the chains.
On Monday, head coach Steve Sarkisian provided an update on the health of his starting quarterback, per InsideTexas.
“He practiced today, and it'll be very similar to last week,” Sarkisian said.
That is good news for Texas fans, who will have their starting quarterback out there as the Longhorns look to avenge their only loss of the season. Georgia dominated Texas in Austin earlier this season and the first half of the game was so bad that Ewers had to be briefly benched for a few series in favor of Arch Manning.
Ewers' injury has opened up a new dimension of the Texas offense. Now, with the limited mobility of Ewers, Sarkisian has elected to go with Manning as a running quarterback at times in select packages. That strategy paid off on Saturday when Manning scampered around the left side for a 15-yard touchdown on fourth down.
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Texas seeking CFP bye, SEC title on Saturday
It's hard to find a game with higher stakes than Saturday's SEC Championship Game between Texas and Georgia. Both teams are vying for a conference title, which would certainly mean a little bit extra to Steve Sarkisian and Texas in their first season in the SEC.
In addition, the two teams will be battling for a first-round bye in the new 12-team College Football Playoff format later this month. The winner of this one will likely be one of the top two seeds in the field, while the loser will have to play a difficult game in the first round. If Georgia loses this SEC title game, there is a real chance that it may have to go on the road in its first CFP game in a few weeks.
Texas will be looking to solve a Georgia defense that seemed to have Sarkisian and company figured out in the first meeting. Kirby Smart's defensive line dominated the battle at the line of scrimmage and the second level defenders were extremely keyed in on Sarkisian's famous screen game and misdirection concepts. Sarkisian is heralded as one of the top play designers and offensive schemers in the nation, so it will be fascinating to see how he responds.
Georgia has also dealt with a ton of inconsistency this season, so the Bulldogs need to be on high alert. If it performs how it did on Friday against Georgia Tech, it will be a long day for Smart and his guys.
