Arch Manning Era Eyed by Fans as Quinn Ewers, No. 3 Texas Lose to Dillon Gabriel, OU

After falling 34-30 to the No. 12 Oklahoma Sooners in the Red River Rivalry game at the Cotton Bowl in Dallas on Saturday, some fans of the No. 3 Texas Longhorns called for Arch Manning to replace Quinn Ewers at quarterback.

Ewers completed 31 of his 37 passing attempts for 346 yards and one touchdown, and he completed 19 consecutive passes at one point, but he also threw two interceptions and lost one fumble, and those miscues were arguably the biggest difference in Texas' first loss of the season.

Each of the Longhorns' first two drives of the game ended in Ewers interceptions, the first of which was a poor read on a slant that got jumped by Gentry Williams:

Ewers settled in a bit after that and had Texas in a 17-17 tie late in the first half, although Oklahoma hit a field goal at the end of the second quarter to take a 20-17 lead into halftime.

After a Sooners touchdown extended the lead to 27-17, Ewers lost a fumble on Texas' first drive of the second half:

Texas came all the way back to tie the game at 27-27 on a field goal followed by a 29-yard touchdown run by Jonathon Brooks. Then, Texas took a 30-27 lead on a field goal with just 1:17 remaining.

Despite having no timeouts left, the Sooners quickly drove down the field on the strength of quarterback Dillon Gabriel, and he threw what turned out to be a game-winning, three-yard touchdown pass to Nic Anderson with 15 seconds left.

While it seemed for a moment that Ewers had done enough to keep Texas' undefeated season alive, and it can be argued that the defense was primarily to blame for the loss in the end, it didn't stop a portion of the Longhorns fanbase from expressing their desire to see the start of the Arch Manning era:

Manning is a true freshman who has yet to attempt a pass at the college level, but 247Sports rated him as a 5-star prospect and the No. 1 overall recruit in his class.

Additionally, Manning has the best pedigree a quarterback could possibly ask for. His grandfather, Archie Manning, was the longtime starting quarterback for the New Orleans Saints, while his uncles, Peyton Manning and Eli Manning, are both two-time Super Bowl-winning quarterbacks.

Given how high profile of a recruit Manning is, it was always obvious that Ewers would have to deal with fans calling for him in the face of struggles.

Ewers was largely excellent during the Longhorns' 5-0 start to the season, though, completing 66.0 percent of his passes for 1,358 yards, 10 touchdowns and only one interception.

Because of that, and the fact that Ewers was a highly touted recruit in his own right, it seems unlikely that head coach Steve Sarkisian will succumb to fan pressure and bench Ewers so quickly.

Although the loss was damaging to Texas' College Football Playoff hopes, the Longhorns remain firmly in the Big 12 title hunt, and they will look to bounce back on Oct. 21 in a road game against Houston after having a bye next week.

Meanwhile, Gabriel, head coach Brent Venables and the 6-0 Sooners also have a bye next week before returning for a home game against Gabriel's former team, UCF, on Oct. 21.