"Why don't they put Arch Manning in?" - CFB analyst puts Steve Sarkisian's decision under the scanner after Quinn disappoints against Georgia

Texas' backup quarterback Arch Manning was involved in just two plays for the Longhorns in the Southeastern Conference championship game against coach Kirby Smart's Georgia Bulldogs. They lost 22-19 in overtime on Saturday. The loss marked the Longhorns' second loss to the Bulldogs after being blown away earlier in the season.

Despite the loss, the Longhorns made it into the expanded college football playoffs as a No. 5 seed and will face the No. 12 Clemson Tigers. The latter clinched a berth in the playoffs after beating the SMU Mustangs 34-31 in the ACC championship game.

The Texas offense led by Ewers struggled against Georgia although the QB ended the game with 358 yards resulting in one touchdown and two interceptions. This has led to increased calls for Arch Manning to play more.

During Sunday's segment of ESPN's "Sports Center," NFL analyst Louis Riddick was critical of Ewer's performance during the game which led to the narrow loss.

"I don't wanna put this all on Ewers but there were many opportunities where they had the perfect play designed, and perfect route concept drawn up and he just couldn't get the ball to where it needed to get to, or he made some late decisions, didn't have enough zip on the football and just wasn't able to make the timely throws when he needed to the most," Riddick said.

Riddick further argued that the introduction of Manning would have destabilized the Georgia defense due to the quarterback's superior run game to Ewers.

"And I even tweeted during the game, why don't they put Arch Manning here at least for a series or so and kind of like give this defense front from Georgia kinda like something else to think about," Riddick said. "Because Quinn is not the run threat at all. He just doesn't present that and you see the top teams have those kind of guys who can do a little bit of both. This defense can shut down anybody but they've gotta get better play out of the QB if they wanna realize their goal."

Quinn Ewers addresses Arch Manning substitution

During his postgame news conference after the loss to Georgia, Quinn Ewers addressed being substituted for Arch Manning.

"It felt like a weird position to be in," Ewers said. "You know, some plays didn’t go our way. We just couldn’t capitalize in some key moments in the first half."

The matter of Arch Manning versus Quinn Ewers has continued to boil over as the season has progressed. With the Longhorns' season on the line in the college football playoffs, it is decision time for coach Steve Sarkisian.