Texas QB Quinn Ewers eyes return to face rival Oklahoma

Quinn Ewers is on target to return on Oct. 12 when Texas faces archrival Oklahoma for the first time in the Southeastern Conference.

The No. 2 Longhorns (5-0, 1-0 SEC) enter their bye week with one healthy quarterback, Arch Manning, but Ewers was reportedly close to being cleared to play last week from the abdominal strain that knocked him out of the 56-7 win over UTSA on Sept. 14.

Head coach Steve Sarkisian said the No. 2 Longhorns will lean on the luxury of time with no game this week to allow Ewers to continue building strength before diving into plans for the Red River Rivalry meeting with the Sooners in Dallas.

"He's just rehabbing as he has been. I think he's been making steady progress one day to the next, which is a good sign," Sarkisian said Monday. "We haven't had any setbacks. It's been steady progress. I think he's getting stronger and more comfortable and more confident, and so we'll just kind of stay the course with that."

Sarkisian left little to speculation on Saturday after Manning guided the Longhorns to a 35-13 win over Mississippi State.

"We need Quinn back because he's our quarterback, and he's our leader," Sarkisian said after Manning passed for 324 yards with two touchdowns and no interceptions against the Bulldogs.

"I think that that impacts the entire team's belief. But what I think we learned, and what Arch kind of learned here over the last two and a half games, is this team can count on him, too. ... When we get Quinn back, we're all going to be excited about that but we also know, gosh, what a luxury that we do have. And what valuable experience Arch got here over the last two and a half games."

Ewers led Texas to a Sept. 7 win at Michigan and is completing 73.4 percent of his passes for 691 yards and eight touchdowns with two interceptions this season. He missed the past two games, but Sarkisian believes he'll jump back into the Heisman Trophy conversation when he takes the field again.

"(Ewers) is going to be in New York for the Heisman (as a finalist), whether he wins it or not, but he has the ability to do that," Sarkisian said last week. "I think he has the ability to be a top-five NFL draft pick. All of the things that I think he is capable of are still out there for him. Him not playing in this game Saturday is not going to impact those three things that I know are goals that we've set for him and that he's working towards."

Manning has 900 yards passing with nine touchdowns and two picks plus three rushing touchdowns.

--Field Level Media