Quinn Ewers‘ decision to head for the NFL Draft means the Texas Longhorns will have a new signal-caller in 2025 — and their new QB1 is set to be Arch Manning, the highly-touted 19-year-old from one of the best-known football families in the United States.
But Manning‘s recruitment out of high school was tense, and fear remains that circumstances at Texas — or a much larger NIL offer from elsewhere — could convince him to leave Austin. Manning’s chances of ending his NCAA football career somewhere else are low, but they could rise if he loses faith in Longhorns head coach Steve Sarkisian, who backed Ewers throughout the 2024 season despite the redshirt junior’s inconsistency.
Sarkisian criticized for Ohio State loss
Texas continues to sort through the wreckage of its heartbreaking 28-14 loss to the Ohio State Buckeyes in the College Football Playoff semifinals, and blance for that defeat has been laid at Sarkisian‘s feet.
“It was going to be a very specific way that Texas had to win. Guess what? It was happening,” Fox Sports college football analyst Joel Klatt told Colin Cowherd. “Ohio State did not play well offensively and kept shooting themselves in the foot.”
The decisive portion of the game arrived without Manning on the field: in the dying minutes, the Longhorns had the ball, trailing 21-14 and facing 1st and goal to go at the Buckeyes‘ 2 yard-line. But somehow, Texas did not score; after a penalty placed the Longhorns at the 1, they lost seven yards on two rushing plays before Ewers threw an incompletion and fumbled on fourth down, leading to Ohio State’s game-sealing 83-yard touchdown.
“Texas had done everything right. They put themselves in a position to win, and they still don’t win. Why? Well, because Ohio State has playmakers and people that make plays all over the field, both units,” Klatt said. “That’s tough to overcome.”
Beyond Ohio State’s talent and playmaking ability, Sarkisian’s play-calling continues to be examined amidst the disappointing end to Texas’ season. With the dynamic Manning now poised to replace Ewers, there could be a new kind of comfort level that would encourage Sarkisian to call plays a bit differently in the biggest games of 2025.