Texas QB Quinn Ewers has to survive against Mississippi State

Texas quarterback Quinn Ewers will not play against Mississippi State on Saturday as the Longhorns staff has decided to sit him out so that he is fully healthy for the game against Oklahoma on October 12th.

Sources said the team wanted Ewers to use the week Texas had off after the Mississippi State game to get healthy. Ewers has been considered week-to-week since he injured his oblique muscle on September 14 against UTSA.

Ewers finished the week at nearly 70% as he practiced on Tuesday, was limited on Wednesday, and was limited on Thursday to allow him to fully heal. Sources said the Texas coaching staff wanted to give Ewers the extra rest to ensure he would return at full strength.

The decision means Texas will again start backup quarterback Arch Manning, who will make his first career start in an SEC game. Manning made his first start against Louisiana Monroe and completed 15 of 29 passes for 258 yards. He had two touchdown passes and two interceptions.

Ewers' oblique injury came as he had one of his best performances of the season in Week 2 at Michigan, when he threw for 246 yards and three touchdowns in a blowout Texas win in Ann Arbor.

Mississippi State enters the game on a three-game losing streak, which includes back-to-back home losses to Toledo and Florida. The Bulldogs tend to finish near the bottom of the SEC as they have one of the worst defenses in the country. They are ranked No. 111 nationally in total defense and No. 107 in scoring defense.

Mississippi State will also be without its starting quarterback as starter Blake Shapen is out this year after suffering a shoulder injury against Florida. Michael Van Buren, a true freshman, will make his first career start for the Bulldogs.