It was apparent all evening long. Quinn Ewers has no feel for being able to move the sticks on the Georgia defense. Twice-favored Texas has now lost both of its games to Georgia in its first season in the SEC, including the conference championship on Saturday night. Steve Sarkisian is one of the best coaches in college football, but he has to make an adjustment in the College Football Playoff.
While this will be Ewers' final season in Austin, Sarkisian needs to put his faith in redshirt freshman Arch Manning going forward. No, I am not saying that he needs to start every game and play all of the meaningful snaps the rest of the way. I am arguing on the behalf of playing Manning more. This is because Texas now has to win four games in a row to be crowned national champions this season.
When the final College Football Playoff rankings come out on Sunday afternoon, Texas will be seeded as high as the No. 6 seed, probably no lower than the No. 8 seed, and likely the No. 7 seed. In short, they will be hosting a first-round home game vs. one of the last at-large bids. If they get the No. 7 seed and beat someone like Indiana as the No. 10 seed, that means they would play ... No. 2 Georgia.
Manning's mobility and increased confidence seems like a great idea to play over a fading Ewers.
Steve Sarkisian needs to play Arch Manning more to win a national title
Look. This might be the most up for grabs College Football Playoff to date. The betting favorite might be undefeated Oregon, but the Ducks have shown a bit of a proclivity to not only play down to their competition, but have the potential to play tight. While teams like Georgia, Ohio State, Penn State and Texas can certainly win it all, they all have demonstrated considerable levels of variance this season.
To be frank, the only two teams that are surely in the playoff field who cannot win a national title are Boise State and Indiana. The Broncos do not have the horses (pun intended) to keep up with the big boys. As for the Hoosiers, they might be lacking depth as well in their first year under a new coach. Even teams like Arizona State and Clemson have shown the ability to punch up and outslug a team.
What I am getting at with Texas is the Longhorns have the defense to win every game it plays the rest of the way. While Gunner Stockton showed a lot of heart filling in for the injured Carson Beck, he is not Arch Manning. Texas is the only team in the playoff that I feel has two capable quarterbacks of winning multiple playoff games. I would be honest that I actually trust Manning more than I do Ewers.
If 2017-18 Alabama can win a College Football Playoff after benching its quarterback, so can Texas.