AUSTIN – The Texas Longhorns and their fans were treated to a spectacle Saturday night when freshman quarterback Arch Manning took the field in relief of Quinn Ewers and delivered a dominant performance in a blowout win over UTSA.

Manning finished the game completing 9 of his 12 passes for 223 yards and four touchdowns, while also throwing for 67 yards.

While the popular narrative may be that Manning should be the starting quarterback, Ewers will remain the starting quarterback once he recovers from his abdominal injury.

And they’re going to need him.

There’s no doubt that what Manning accomplished Saturday night was incredible and earned him the title of best backup quarterback in the country.

That said, Ewers was the Heisman Trophy favorite heading into Week 3 for good reason.

And going forward in the SEC, Ewers’ battle-tested experience will be invaluable.

Yes, Manning is a huge talent and next season he will be the best quarterback after Ewers takes his talents to the NFL.

But against UTSA, there were some signs of inexperience from Manning that would make a much bigger difference once the Longhorns entered SEC competition.

Those brief moments were of course overshadowed by his highlights, but upon closer inspection it turned out that Manning held the ball too long a few times, once resulting in a hard hit and a sack.

The same goes for a zone-read play where Manning made the wrong choice and held on to the ball, resulting in a loss in the backfield.

In this particular scenario, those actions had no impact on the outcome.

But in the heart of an SEC game, against the defensive lines of Georgia or Oklahoma, something like that could end in disaster.

Is this a bit nitpicky? Definitely.

But Ewers has proven himself time and time again in the biggest moments and the toughest environments over the past two seasons, doing it against Alabama in Tuscaloosa in 2023 and multiple times away and in the Big 12 title game.

This season he played against Michigan in the largest stadium in the country on a national level.

Such things are priceless.

Could Manning play a big role in this type of scenario? Absolutely. But the truth is, it’s a complete unknown, and until we see it, it will remain that way.

Meanwhile, the Longhorns to know that Ewers can do it, and as the undisputed leader of the team, the players know it too.

So yes, the Longhorns will continue to ride the Arch train until Ewers is ready to go.

But once he’s back to a point where he’s ready, it’s Ewers’ turn to lead the attack again.