Steve Sarkisian told ESPN’s Dave Wilson Monday that there would indeed be a quarterback competition between Quinn Ewers and 5-star freshman Arch Manning heading into next season. It seemed like only a matter of time before this type of announcement was made.

Manning, though a freshman, is one of the top QB prospects in recent memory – partially because of his name and partially because of his game. The next in the line of Manning family QBs chose Texas and shut down recruiting in June, picking the Longhorns over Auburn, Georgia and more.

Now, he’ll be gunning for the starting job at Texas in Year 1.

Here is Sarkisian’s statement on the competition:

“I’m not worried about who’s going to be on the cover of what magazine next week,” Sarkisian said, via ESPN. “I’m more focused on is, is each guy focusing on what they need to do to develop to be the best player that they can be? Quinn has an entire year of a head start, but I don’t want to hold Arch back. I want to see how far he can take this thing and what it can look like.”

Ewers or Manning at the helm in Austin?

As Sarkisian said, Ewers is more experienced at the college level. He played fairly well for Texas last season before a shoulder injury, most notably against Alabama early in the year until he was taken out near halftime. He finished the year with an Alamo Bowl loss to Washington, throwing for 369 yards and 1 touchdown.

Ewers was a big-name recruit as well, the No. 1 overall recruit in the Class of 2022 according to 247Sports. He started 10 games for the Longhorns after transferring from Ohio State, throwing for 2,177 yards, 15 touchdowns and 6 interceptions this past season. That experience, though Sarkisian said QB play has to improve, is important in the upcoming competition.

And yet it still seems like he is in a tough situation. Texas fans will push for Manning, the No. 1 overall recruit in the 2023 class, based off his name alone. Especially true considering Sarkisian did not come out and say explicitly that Manning will sit a season. Ultimately, this is something Sarkisian had to say at this point of the offseason.

One thing is certain, there won’t be a starting QB named in Austin for some time. Get your popcorn out.