Sheduer Sanders has weighed in on the Texas quarterback debate, saying head coach Steve Sarkisian put Arch Manning in a “really hard” situation against Georgia.

The Longhorns’ starting quarterback, Quinn Ewers, was benched for the final two series of the first half against the Bulldogs on Oct. 19 after a dismal start to the game, with Manning taking over until the interval. Curiously, Ewers returned to the field immediately after halftime.

Texas, ranked the No. 1 team in the nation at the time, went on to suffer a 30-15 defeat, sparking intense speculation over the quarterback position. Ewers is expected to be one of the top quarterbacks in the 2025 NFL Draft class.

But redshirt freshman Manning – the nephew of double Super Bowl champions Peyton and Eli – is a prodigious talent and was very impressive in two starts in relief of the injured Ewers earlier in the season.

“I felt Quinn was a little uneasy, and I just felt like giving him a chance to kind of step back, regroup,” Sarkisian said, explaining the move. “I didn’t know if we get a series or two with Arch [Manning], depending on how much time was remaining in the half on the clock. So we just told Quinn, ‘Hey, we’re gonna go with Arch here, Give you a chance to get into the locker room. Let’s regroup and then come back out in the second half’.

“At the end of the day, Quinn’s our starter. I think we’ve got to do a better job around him. I think he would tell you he could play better, but we’ve got to coach better, everybody’s got to be better for our offensive football team to perform better.”

Sanders believes Manning was put in a 'tough situation' by his head coach

Sanders believes Manning was put in a ‘tough situation’ by his head coach ( 

Image:

DNVR Sports/YouTube)

Colorado superstar Sanders had his say on the situation in an appearance on the “2Legendary” podcast, suggesting Sarkisian asked too much of Manning in such a big game.

“I mean, Arch is still young. He has a lot of time to grow and succeed, I would say,” said Sanders. “I think for Quinn, the only difference was that they were trying to change it up a little bit to spark something, but I feel like it was going to go back to Quinn anyway.

“But I think it’s tough putting Arch in this situation. Especially when momentum isn’t on your side. It’s really hard to ask a freshman player to do that.”

Texas returned to winning ways on Saturday, holding on for a 27-24 victory over Vanderbilt in Nashville. It was not a clean game for Ewers, who threw three touchdowns and two interceptions, but it was enough to get the job done and improve to 7-1 on the season.

However, the voters in the AP Top-25 poll were not convinced by the performance, with the Longhorns falling to No. 6 in the latest rankings, falling behind unbeaten Miami. Texas returns to action on Saturday, hosting Florida (4-3) at Darrell K. Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium.