Texas football fans have a reason to be worried after starting quarterback Quinn Ewers hurt his abdomen in a Week 3 game against UTSA. Ewers is a proven winner who has a lot of experience, and the Longhorns have a lot of expectations this year to reach the College Football Playoff. Despite the injury, it's not wise yet for Longhorns fans to have a gloom and doom mentality.
Here are some reasons why Ewers' injury doesn't end Texas football's College Football Playoff hopes.
Texas football has a talented play caller waiting in the wings
The Longhorns are fortunate to have a plethora of riches at the quarterback position. Backing up Ewers is the capable and talented Arch Manning, a product of the infamous football family. Manning entered the UTSA game on Saturday and didn't seem to skip a beat.
The phenomenal young quarterback finished the contest with 223 passing yards for four touchdowns. The Longhorns trounced UTSA, 56-7. Manning completed 9-for-12 of his passes. He certainly looked like he could do the job, despite his youth and inexperience.
Manning also got the job done on the ground against the Roadrunners. He rushed for another touchdown, so he accounted for a total of five TDs in that game. That's just incredible, and some believe Manning is already in the Heisman Trophy conversation. In fact, Manning would likely be starting at a lot of other programs. He wasn't at Texas because the Longhorns reached the 2023 CFP with Ewers. Ewers is completely capable of doing the job, so it wasn't necessary for Manning to start. Now, the Longhorns get to open the playbook in a different way to allow Manning to show off what he can do.
Speaking of Ewers, that leads to the next reason why Texas football shouldn't give up hope yet.
Quinn Ewers may return this season
The latest injury report on Ewers is that he is week-to-week, per Burnt Orange Nation. That is some murky yet promising news. Texas football could get Ewers back on the field this season, and that's hopeful because the original analysis on his injury was that it might be very serious.
Ewers is likely to miss the team's upcoming game against Louisiana Monroe, due to his abdominal strain. Manning should be able to step in and win that game. However, Ewers could return soon after so that means he would be available for a good portion of the SEC conference slate.
Texas would love to have him in those conference games. The schedule is tough for Texas, in its inaugural SEC season. Ewers is an experienced quarterback who can win those games. He threw for 3,479 yards in 2023 and completed a scorching 69 percent of his passes. He tossed 22 touchdown passes, with just 6 interceptions.
The conference schedule includes upcoming games with Georgia, Oklahoma and Texas A&M, just to name a few. If the team can get Ewers back, they will be able to compete certainly in all of those contests. Even if Texas doesn't run the table, the Longhorns can still make the CFP with just one loss.
There's one more reason to not give up hope Longhorns fans.
The Texas defense is legit
Texas football has an outstanding defense this season, and that will help the offense win games. In three games, the defense has looked outstanding so far for the Longhorns. Texas held Michigan to only 284 yards of total offense in Week 2. That included just 80 rushing yards.
In three games, the Longhorns are 3-0. They have allowed just a total of 19 points in three games, which is quite impressive. Texas football pitched a shutout in Week 1, giving up no points to Colorado State. They have allowed just two offensive touchdowns this season, in its three games.
The Texas defense is 16th in the country in total yards allowed per game, per NCAA stats. The Longhorns are giving up an average of 245 yards a contest. There are four SEC schools doing a better job than Texas in that category, so the Longhorns do have some competition when it comes to the best defense in the league. Still, the Texas defense should allow itself to compete for wins just about every week.
Texas football next plays Louisiana Monroe on Saturday.
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