Quarterback Quinn Ewers is unlikely to start for No. 1 Texas in its Southeastern Conference debut against visiting Mississippi State on Saturday as he recovers from injury, ESPN reported.
If Ewers is sidelined, Arch Manning will make his second consecutive start.
Ewers left the Longhorns’ Sept. 14 win over UTSA with an abdominal strain and was replaced by Manning. The redshirt freshman started in Ewers’ place last weekend in a 51-3 drubbing of Louisiana-Monroe as Texas moved to 4-0.
ESPN reported that the decision would come later Saturday before the scheduled 4:15 p.m. ET start time in Austin.
Ewers was limited in practice this week as coach Steve Sarkisian said he wanted to give him more rest.
In his first college start, Manning was 15-of-29 passing for 258 yards with two touchdowns and two interceptions against ULM. In relief of Ewers in the UTSA game, Manning completed 9 of 12 passes for 223 yards with four TD passes and a 67-yard touchdown run.
Ewers is 19-6 as a starter at Texas. He has 6,347 career passing yards, good for seventh place in program history. His 45 passing touchdowns rank sixth.
He will have extra recovery time next week with the Longhorns on a bye week. They return to play Oct. 12 against longtime rival Oklahoma, currently ranked No. 21.
Mississippi State will be the first-ever SEC opponent for Texas. The Bulldogs (1-3, 0-1 SEC) lost their conference opener to Florida 45-28 last weekend and lost quarterback Blake Shapen for the season to a shoulder injury.
Freshman signal-caller Michael Van Buren will get his first college start for the Bulldogs on Saturday.
