Despite suffering a Grade 2 AC joint sprain, Quinn Ewers may not be out all that long for the Texas football team. Longhorns head coach spoke to the media earlier in the week about the health of his star quarterback. Ewers had to exit last Saturday's narrow win over the Houston Cougars. He was replaced by Maalik Murphy under center, as opposed to their popular third-stringer, Arch Manning.
Texas is 6-1 (3-1) on the season and very much alive to contend for the College Football Playoff. Although they lost to Oklahoma at Red River, the Longhorns could conceivably get the best of the Sooners in a Big 12 title bout rematch over in Arlington. Texas still has five potentially challenging conference games left, including home vs. Kansas State on Nov. 4 and at Iowa State on Nov. 18.
Here is what Sarkisian had to say about the health of Ewers, as well Texas edge rusher Ethan Burke.
"Quinn (Ewers) and Ethan Burke will both be week to week at this point. You never really know exactly how bodies respond to injury. We're just going to have to monitor these guys on a weekly basis. Obviously, we're going to do everything in our power to get those guys back sooner rather than later."
Depending on how Murphy plays in the next two weeks could help us know if Texas is truly back.
Texas football: Steve Sarkisian provides health update on Quinn Ewers
With Sarkisian saying this is a week-to-week injury for Ewers, that is fantastic. AC joint sprains usually sideline a quarterback for a month and change, a relatively similar timeline for those undergoing tightrope surgery to fix a high ankle sprain. Since this is Ewers' throwing arm, Texas will need to proceed with caution. It is why I doubt he will play at all in either of Texas' next two conference games.
Although Kalani Sitake's BYU Cougars are the feistiest of the Big 12 Conference newcomers out of the Power Five, I think Sarkisian will put Murphy in positions to succeed in getting the win over them on Saturday. However, the following home date vs. K-State might be too much for Texas to handle. Chris Klieman is arguably the best coach in the league and is coming off his first conference title at K-State.
Should the Longhorns get past both BYU and Kansas State, that TCU date in Fort Worth feels extra trappy. The Horned Frogs have pretty much owned the Longhorns since joining the Big 12 over a decade ago. After that, a potential spot in the conference title bout could be on in Ames when the Cyclones welcome the Longhorns to Jack Trice. Texas then finishes with in-state rival Texas Tech.
While Ewers being week-to-week is great news, Texas' back half of the schedule may be unforgiving.
