AUSTIN, Texas — Prior to the Sugar Bowl, Casey Thompson and Cameron Rising -- both freshman quarterbacks -- entered their names into the transfer portal.
The reason: Sam Ehlinger.
He clamped down on the QB1 job -- and Ehlinger may be the Longhorns' QB1 for two more seasons.
When Thursday began, UT had four scholarship quarterbacks on the roster.
During the 5 p.m. hour, Cameron Rising announced on Twitter, he is leaving Texas. He's headed to Salt Lake City with four years of eligibility remaining to play for the Utah Utes.
Casey Thompson has been shopping around and mulling his future since. He, too, has four years of eligibility remaining.
Then it was senior-to-be Shane Buechele, who has been the ultimate team player at Texas. A starter for two seasons, he then took a back seat to Ehlinger.
Buechele officially entered his name into the portal Thursday morning and the rumors began, linking Buechele to a possible return to Dallas at SMU after he graduates from UT in May.
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That led to reports that Thompson removed his name from the portal and that he would return to Texas as the Ehlinger's back-up.
But, Thompson denied it with this tweet this afternoon:
If he does decide to transfer from UT, Ehlinger would be the lone scholarship quarterback on the roster until Roschon Johnson, a dual-threat QB from Port Neches-Groves, reports for the spring semester.
Which leads to the question: Will Tom Herman and his coaching staff search for a quarterback on the transfer portal themselves?