AUSTIN, Texas — A post on Instagram spread like wildfire Monday after it suggested Texas Longhorns quarterback Quinn Ewers was done on the Forty Acres.
Screenshots of the now-deleted post showed, "Texas QB Quinn Ewers will sit out the rest of the season to prepare for the NFL Draft." According to 247Sports, their Instagram was hacked and the post was quickly taken down.
The post sparked concerns among Longhorn Nation after Ewers was briefly benched Saturday during the team's loss to Georgia. Ewers did not speak to the media on Monday, but quickly debunked the post with a "fake news" GIF to his Instagram story.
Head coach Steve Sarkisian confirmed after the game that Ewers was still his starting quarterback and that there was no competition. On Monday, Sarkisian said the benching was just to hit the reset button on QB1.
The two touchdowns in the third quarter thrown by Ewers may have been proof that the move worked in the short term, but questions remain about the choice. Did temporarily losing his job on a national stage damage Ewers' confidence for the long haul?
"I think it's him understanding that we have confidence and belief in him again," Sarkisian said. "We were very clear of why we made that move at the end of the second quarter ... We [have] got a ton of respect for Quinn. A ton of confidence in Quinn. I think he's gonna come out and play really good football for us here the second half of the season."
Despite the loss, Texas isn't eliminated from the national championship conversation. But the loss does take away most of their room for error with road showdowns against No. 25 Vanderbilt and No. 14 Texas A&M remaining.
Regardless, it would take an absolute meltdown to ruin Ewers' draft stock or for him to sit out the rest of the season.