Will Texas have a QB controversy in 2024?

The Texas Longhorns held their spring game on Saturday and the most notable takeaway from this April scrimmage was the performance of backup quarterback Arch Manning.

The redshirt freshman gunslinger led the White team throughout the afternoon and dazzled the crowd at DKR Texas Memorial Stadium, throwing a 75-yard touchdown on his first pass of the game. His team ultimately lost by one point, but he had a good showing by going 19-25 for 355 yards and three touchdowns. He managed to steal the spotlight from returning starter Quinn Ewers, who threw a tipped pick-six in the first quarter of the scrimmage.

Manning arrived to Austin last spring to much fanfare and there was immediate speculation if there would be a QB battle between him and Ewers for the starter gig. However, head coach Steve Sarkisian shut down any notion of there being a QB controversy, sticking by Ewers and having the freshman sit third-string behind Maalik Murphy. In fact, Manning’s only appearance during UT’s run to the College Football Playoffs came in mop up duty of their regular season finale against Texas Tech, where he went 2-5 for 30 yards.

But after his performance on Saturday, can we expect a QB controversy in Austin in 2024? The answer: no…well, at least not yet.

As much as some Longhorn fans are frothing at the mouth to see the redshirt freshman play, they’re going to have to be more patient to see him take the reigns. After all, Ewers is the established veteran entering his third season as the starter and he just led UT to its first ever appearance in the CFP. He completed 69% of his passes for 3,479 yards with 22 touchdowns to just six interceptions and those numbers most likely would’ve been higher had he not suffered a shoulder injury midway through the season. He will be the guy that leads the Burnt Orange into the SEC in 2024.

However, he’ll have to stay on his game with the young Manning now sitting right behind him on the depth chart. If Ewers struggles through the first month or so of the season, there is a possibility that Arch could overtake him. A similar situation happened in 2021 with arch rival Oklahoma during the Red River Rivalry, where a struggling Spencer Rattler was replaced by Caleb Williams and well, the rest is history.

Regardless, Texas fans should be thrilled that they have two viable QB options on hand as they jump headfirst into the sport’s toughest league.