When Texas football coach Steve Sarkisian was playing quarterback at BYU during the 1996 season, his coaches wanted to take him out of the game for a play.

Sarkisian was "banged up," he said, and the BYU staff had decided to run a quarterback draw. Looking to minimize the injury risk for Sarkisian, the coaches instructed him to remain on the sidelines.

Sarkisian refused. He ran the draw play and ended up in the end zone.

"When I was a starter, I never wanted the backup to come in the game," Sarkisian said Wednesday. "Even for a play."

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Some coaches across college football look for places to get their backups a snap here or a snap there outside of garbage time — sometimes in situations that call for skills the first-choice quarterback doesn't have.

Two of those teams have already appeared on Texas' schedule this season. Michigan went to Alex Orji in relief of Davis Warren for a handful of snaps in Week 2. (Orji has since taken over the starting job.)

Mississippi State gave Chris Parson, the backup to Tyler Van Buren, eight snaps in last week's loss to the Longhorns.

“I want to keep him involved,” MSU coach Jeff Lebby told reporters after the game. “Chris has been just an unbelievable teammate as we’ve gotten into this thing. Completely unselfish, finding ways just to help us day in and day out, so I want to keep him involved moving forward.”

The Longhorns have arguably the best backup quarterback in the country in Arch Manning, who has thrown for 901 yards and racked up 12 total touchdowns this season. Much of that production has come while deputizing for Quinn Ewers.

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Texas' starter under center went down with an abdominal strain in Week 3 and is nearing a return with the Longhorns on their bye week. He was listed as questionable for last week's contest against the Bulldogs before ultimately sitting out.

Would Sarkisian ever consider building a package to get Manning on the field when Ewers returns?

"I've got respect for a guy who's the starting quarterback and the rhythm that's needed to play," he said. "So no, that's not something I've ever entertained."

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This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Why Texas won't give Arch Manning snaps when Quinn Ewers returns