Texas quarterback Quinn Ewers did little to dispel rumors regarding his immediate future with the Longhorns on the heels of being momentarily replaced by backup Arch Manning.

On Saturday, Manning briefly came in for Ewers in the second quarter with Texas trailing Georgia 20-0. The latter eventually returned to the contest and started the entirety of the second half, completing 25-of-43 passes for 211 yards, two touchdowns and an interception in the Longhorns’ 30-15 loss.

Two days after his benching, Ewers did not attend his regularly scheduled press conference with members of the media. His absence added more fuel to the growing speculation that he could be unhappy in Texas – with 247Sports briefly reporting that the signal-caller could even sit out the remainder of the 2024 campaign in order to prepare for the 2025 NFL Draft.

Speaking to On3, a source close to Ewers swiftly shot down 247Sports‘ claim, which has since been removed from social media. “It is absolutely not true,” they said.

Ahead of Texas’ faceoff against No. 25 seed Vanderbilt, Longhorns head coach Steve Sarkisian asserted that the team would continue to run with Ewers. “Quinn’s our starting quarterback,” he said in Saturday’s postgame press conference.

“I appreciate the fact we’re fortunate enough to have a backup like Arch that could come into the game and provide a spark in some sense. At the end of the day, Quinn’s our starter.

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Arch Manning came in for Quinn Ewers in the second quarter of Saturday's contest

Arch Manning came in for Quinn Ewers in the second quarter of Saturday’s contest ( 

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Getty Images)

“I think, like I said, we’ve got to do a better job around him. I think he would tell you he can play better, but we’ve got to coach better. Everybody’s got to be better for our offense to perform better.”

When asked why he decided to make a change at quarterback in the first half, Sarkisian described the move as an attempt to help Ewers regroup and get his head right for the closing two quarters. “My feeling in the game was I felt Quinn was a little uneasy,” he said. “I felt like giving him a chance to kind of step back and regroup. I didn’t know if we’d get a series or two with Arch depending on how much time was remaining in the half on the clock.

“So we told Quinn we’re going to go with Arch here and give you a chance to get into the locker room. Let’s regroup and then come back out in the second half, and so that’s what we did. I felt like it was effective. Quinn came out and played a much better second half and played well in the third quarter.”

Though Sarkisian conceded that Ewers can play better, the 50-year-old insisted that he still has the utmost confidence in him. “I think it’s him understanding that we have confidence and belief in him again,” he added on Monday.

“We were very clear of why we made that move at the end of the second quarter of him kind of recalibrating. Him getting refocused and giving him a chance to get into locker room so that we could visit. And again, I thought it was an effective move for him, for us as a team. But we got it we’ve got a ton of respect of Quinn, ton of confidence in Quinn.

“I think he’s going to come out and play really good football for us here in the second half of the season.”