Steve Sarkisian reveals why Cole Hutson didn’t play vs. Rice

The Texas Longhorns picked up the victory in their season opener on Saturday against in-state foe, the Rice Owls. The Longhorns cruised to victory over the Owls 37-10. And as head coach Steve Sarkisian promised, in the days prior to the contest, more than just his starting unit saw ample playing time in the game.

While multiple players got their chance to compete against opponents outside their locker room for the first time this year, offensive lineman Cole Hutson was one player who didn’t. After the Longhorns season-opening home victory, Sarkisian revealed why Hutson did not play versus Rice.

“Cole got nicked up during the week. So, we held him today just so that I wanted make sure that he’s healthy moving forward in the season,” said Sarkisian in the postgame press conference.

The Longhorns would have liked to have the services of Hutson against Rice. Still, Sarkisian thought it better to hold him out and allow him to rest instead of risking further injury issues. And despite his absence, Texas was able to have a solid game offensively with 458 yards of total offense, 300 passing, and 158 rushing, and not recording a single turnover in the game.

Sarkisian also said ahead of Saturday’s game that we would find out the answer to who was the Longhorns second-string quarterback behind starter Quinn Ewers. And filling in for Ewers after his day was over was sophomore Maalik Murphy. The change took place in the fourth quarter, with Murphy finishing the game at quarterback for Texas. Highly touted true freshman quarterback Arch Manning didn’t see the field against Rice. So, fans looking forward to his debut will have to wait at least another weekend. Murphy had a quiet day, finishing the game with 40 yards passing and completing three of his five passing attempts.

Maalik Murphy could come into play for Texas

While there usually is not too much talk about the backup quarterback, turning to a new guy has been a theme for Steve Sarkisian while at Texas. During the 2021 season, Hudson Card missed time with an injury before Casey Thompson took over. The reverse happened as well, with both guys having issues.

And then everyone remembers Ewers going down against Alabama with a shoulder injury. It lasted longer than that game too, missing the next few games. He finally made his return against Oklahoma.

The goal is to keep Ewers healthy for the entire regular season. Texas needs some consistency at the position and expects Ewers to have a big season. But in the case of another health problem, Sarkisian will have a decision to make on the replacement between Murphy and Manning.

On3’s Griffin McVeigh contributed to this article