After suffering a Grade 2 AC joint sprain on October 21st in the Longhorns’ 31-24 victory against the Houston Cougars, starting quarterback Quinn Ewers will make his return to the field this weekend against TCU head coach Steve Sarksian announced on Thursday.
“Quinn’s going to start Saturday night. Obviously as a team we are excited about that. He’s had a great week of practice, I feel very comfortable with his ability to operate the offense.”
Ewers, a sophmore, left the Houston game in the third quarter and was replaced by redshirt freshman Maalik Murphy. Murphy started the last two games for the Longhorns, and led Texas to wins over BYU and a ranked Kansas State team despite struggling at times. Murphy’s stat line over those two games was 418 yards passing with three touchdowns and three interceptions.
Sarkisian commented on how important it was for Murphy to get experience starting football games in the absence of Ewers.
“We’re very fortunate that Maalik got those two starts under his belt. Knowing in the future, if Quinn wasn’t able to go that we’ve got a quality backup that won two ballgames for us, one of which against a Top 25 team with a really good defense.”
With the next two games taking place on the road and at night, Ewers’ return is timely. He suffered a similar injury last season in the Alabama game and missed three games before making his return in the Oklahoma game and defeating the Sooners 49-0. The decision to start Ewers on Saturday in Fort Worth wasn’t made in haste, but rather through a collaborative process that made sure everyone was on-board with the decision.
Ewers has thrown for 1,915 yards this season with 13 touchdowns and 3 interceptions this season.
The news of Ewers’ return traveled quickly, particularly to the Vegas oddsmakers, which had the Longhorns as 9.5 favorites prior to the announcement that he would be making the start against the Frogs.
The Longhorns will face TCU at Amon G. Carter Stadium in Fort Worth on Saturday night for the last time as members of the Big 12 Conference where they have won just three times in the last 22 years.
