Arch Manning briefly replaced Quinn Ewers in the second quarter of No. 1 Texas’ 30-15 loss to No. 5 Georgia.

Ewers was on the bench with the Longhorns trailing 20-0. Texas had just 15 yards in five possessions with Ewers under center and he committed two turnovers with a fumble and an interception.

Ewers played his second game since returning to the lineup after suffering an abdominal strain during the Longhorns’ Week 3 game against UTSA.

“I tried to calm Quinn down a little bit, to give us a little bit of a spark,” Texas coach Steve Sarkisian told ESPN before halftime. “But we have to get out of the way. We’re not playing well as a unit right now; our defense is putting out some fires for us.”

Ewers returned to the game early in the third quarter with Texas trailing 23-0.

Manning, Peyton and Eli’s cousin, began to warm up after Ewers was sacked with 7:26 left in the second quarter. Texas held Georgia to a field goal on the next drive, and Manning finally took the field for the Longhorns’ sixth possession. The possession ended in a punt and the only first down came when Mykal Williams was flagged for grabbing Manning’s face mask.

Manning’s second ride had a worse result. After running for a first down, Jalon Walker got his third sack of the night when he brought down Manning. On the next play, Manning was stripped and Walker recovered the fumble with 25 seconds left before halftime. Texas added a field goal after the fumble to take that 23-0 halftime lead.

Manning started two games in Ewers’ absence as Texas defeated Louisiana-Monroe and Mississippi State. He had five touchdowns replacing Ewers in the 56-7 win over UTSA.

Ewers was rusty to start Texas’ 34-3 win over Oklahoma a week ago, but he settled down and had two touchdowns as the Longhorns cruised through the final three quarters. Before Ewers returned to the lineup, coach Steve Sarkisian was adamant that it was Ewers’ team and that he would regain his starting role if healthy.

Manning spent most of the 2023 season as Texas’ No. 3 QB behind Ewers and Maalik Murphy before being elevated to the No. 2 role in 2024 when Ewers returned for his senior season and Murphy transferred to Duke. Manning was the No. 2 QB for two games when Ewers was sidelined with a shoulder injury and also served as the backup for the team’s College Football Playoff loss to Washington when Murphy had entered the transfer portal before the postseason.