As the school prepares for its annual Red River Rivalry game against Oklahoma on Saturday, Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian announced on Thursday that quarterback Quinn Ewers will be returning to the starting lineup for the Longhorns this weekend.
For Ewers, it will be his first time back on the field for Texas since suffering an abdomen injury in the middle of the school’s 56-7 win over UTSA on Sept. 14. Before that injury, the Longhorns junior quarterback was playing outstanding football, as he had completed 73.4 percent of his passes for 691 yards, eight touchdowns and just two interceptions in three games.
In his absence, redshirt freshman Arch Manning did a great job filling in, leading the team to wins over Louisiana-Monroe and Mississippi State. If Ewers struggles in his return, it won’t be surprising if there are some calls from Longhorns fans to put Manning back in as the starter.
Texas will be hoping Ewers can pick up right where he left off and help the school remain in the No. 1 spot in the AP Top-25 poll with an undefeated record by getting a victory in their annual rivalry matchup against Oklahoma.
A win certainly isn’t going to come easy for the Longhorns, as victories typically never do in this rivalry that has been taking place since 1903.
The Sooners enter the matchup ranked No. 18 with a 4-1 record. After suffering a tough loss to Tennessee three weeks ago, Oklahoma was able to get things back on track during the school’s following game when they emerged from a road matchup against Auburn with a 27-21 victory.
The win over the Tigers was extra notable for the Sooners, as it happened with the school starting a true freshman, Michael Hawkins Jr., at quarterback for the first time this season. Hawkins will be making his second start of the year against Texas on Saturday.
Luckily for Ewers, he has the benefit of the Longhorns having one of the best defenses in the country this season. The school has only allowed an average of seven points per matchup, which currently ranks second among FBS schools.
So, if Ewers is a bit rusty in his first game back, there’s a good chance that Texas’s defense will be able to come up with enough plays to help the team walk off the field with a big victory over Oklahoma.