No. 1 Texas kicks off SEC play against injury-riddled Mississippi State Bulldogs; Ewers a game-time decision

AUSTIN (KXAN) — Texas quarterback Quinn Ewers will be a game-time decision for the Longhorns' first Southeastern Conference game Saturday against Mississippi State.

The latest SEC injury report said he's still questionable as of Friday night, meaning the final decision on his status will come 90 minutes before kickoff, scheduled for 3:15 p.m.

Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian said Thursday that he'd decide on Ewers' status Friday, but qualified it by saying he wanted to give Ewers "every opportunity to show that he could play."

The Bulldogs have lost three consecutive games and have been bitten by the injury bug themselves.

Along with starting quarterback Blake Shapen done for the season with a shoulder injury, the Bulldogs will miss four other starters including running back Keyvone Lee, defensive tackles Kalvin Dinkins and Kedrick Bingley-Jones and defensive back Traveon Wright.

A handful of backups are also listed as being out for Mississippi State, making an already-thin roster even more so.

Texas is in good shape injury-wise except at running back. On top of CJ Baxter's and Christian Clark's season-ending injuries in training camp, backups Velton Gardner and Colin Page are both out. Quintrevion Wisner is listed as probable and should help spell Jaydon Blue and Jerrick Gibson with Ryan Niblett also providing some relief.

Defensive back Derek Williams Jr. is listed as out for Texas while wide receiver DeAndre Moore is questionable.

The final injury report for SEC teams is due 90 minutes before kickoff.

Sarkisian said preparing for Shapen's backup, true freshman Michael Van Buren Jr., is challenging because there isn't a lot of tape on him. Van Buren threw for 100 yards on seven completions against Florida after taking over for Shapen, but that's it in terms of pass attempts. He played in the season opener against Eastern Kentucky but didn't throw the ball.

There's another true freshman for the Bulldogs that could give the Longhorns some fits, wide receiver Mario Craver. He's been one of Mississippi State's best pass catchers this season, hauling in eight passes for 192 yards with a pair of touchdowns and a 24 yards-per-catch average. Kevin Coleman Jr. leads the team with 287 receiving yards on 22 catches with three scores.

Without Lee in the backfield, expect the Bulldogs to use a heavy dose of Johnnie Daniels. He leads the team with 158 rushing yards on 32 carries and a touchdown. Davon Booth has two rushing touchdowns.

The Longhorns have been tremendous on third down, allowing teams to convert just 22% of the time for No. 4 in FBS. They are tied for the top spot in FBS in scoring defense, allowing 5.5 points per game, and fifth in total defense allowing 211.8 yards per game.

The game will be broadcast on the SEC Network.