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Dave Wilson, ESPN Staff Writer
Quinn Ewers remains questionable for No. 1 Texas‘ SEC debut against Mississippi State as he recovers from an oblique strain, coach Steve Sarkisian said Monday.
“He’s got to do enough to show me he can play,” Sarkisian said. “Can he execute the game plan? I kind of need to see how he responds from today’s work, and then what it looks like on a Tuesday, then a Wednesday, which are pretty heavy days for him, and then how he rebounds on Thursday.
“It’s going to be kind of a work in progress. But today was a good start.”
Sarkisian said he was encouraged by the performance from backup Arch Manning, who made his first career start in the Longhorns’ 51-3 victory against UL Monroe on Saturday night.
Manning completed 15 of 29 passes for 258 yards with two touchdowns and two interceptions, including one on his first possession.
“I’ve seen a lot of young quarterbacks have a rough start, and then that rough start turns into a rough game,” Sarkisian said about the turnovers. “It was a little bit of a rough start for him, but I thought he rebounded and did some nice things for us.”
Sarkisian took partial responsibility for a game plan that featured a lot of deep shots, knowing Manning loves to throw them.
“Arch is a really good deep-ball thrower, and it gives guys chances to go make plays on those shots down the field,” Sarkisian said. “With a young quarterback, I’m kind of kicking myself a little. I wish I had a few other freebie completions for him, just so that there could have been a little bit more balance getting that completion percentage up, being efficient, moving the chains.”
Manning attempted eight passes of 15 or more yards. He told reporters after the game that he gave himself a C-plus for his performance, and Sarkisian on Monday noted four or five plays where Manning had opportunities to check the ball down without forcing throws that he missed.
“That’s a difference of completing 50% to 52% of your passes to 65%,” Sarkisian said. “So room for growth there.”
Sarkisian said he feels good about where the Longhorns stand as SEC play begins for the first time. After Mississippi State, Texas has a bye, followed by high-profile matchups against No. 21 Oklahoma in Dallas and No. 2 Georgia in Austin.
Texas has outscored its opponents by 168 points this year — its most through the first four games of a season since 1977, according to ESPN research.
“I think that we do have the depth on this roster to withstand the strain that the SEC could put on your roster over that eight-game season that you play in conference, so that part is probably most encouraging for me,” Sarkisian said. “You know the SEC slogan, ‘It just means more’? I feel like at Texas, when you take this job, it just means more here, too.
“There’s an expectation that we’re going to compete for a conference championship year in and year out, and there’s an expectation that we’re competing for a national championship. The conference may have changed, but our standard and our expectations really haven’t.”