Booger McFarland reacts to Arch Manning struggles, Texas loss vs. Ohio State

Arch Manning hit the road for the first time as a starter, falling short against Ohio State. Texas looks lost on offense at times, thanks to the great work of Buckeyes defensive coordinator Matt Patricia. Former New England Patriots player Kyle Van Noy noticed some similarities to previous games against the Atlanta Falcons when Steve Sarkisian was on staff.

ESPN’s Booger McFarland dove in a little more, explaining why Manning struggled. He noticed Ohio State disguising their plays quite well, giving Manning two different looks. Tough for an quarterback out there, let alone somebody taking over as a program’s starting quarterback in Columbus.

“They took away the big play, they took away, also, the presnap reads,” McFarland said. “They showed him one look presnap and then postsnap, they showed him an entirely different look. They had a young quarterback, making his first start on the road against a three-time Super Bowl champion, defensive coordinator Matt Patricia. And that’s what Arch Manning looked like that.”

Manning completed 17 of 30 passes for 170 yards, a touchdown, and an interception. Most of his production came in the fourth quarter as Texas attempted to mount its comeback. For most of the first three quarters, Ohio State was able to limit him from doing anything.

Not much came from the ground game either. Manning finished with only 38 yards rushing on 10 attempts. His legs were a major asset for Texas at times in 2024 but Sarkisian could not find a way to get them involved against Ohio State. Overall, big praise coming from not just McFarland but Van Noy as well.

Arch Manning criticizes own play against Ohio State

The highly anticipated opener between Ohio State and Texas didn’t go exactly how the Longhorns would have liked it, though they had a chance late. But for Arch Manning and company it’ll go down as a hard-fought loss.

Manning opened up on the contest afterward, admitting he bore a lot of blame for the loss. The good news, though, is that he thought many of the mistakes were self-inflicted. Clean them up and all the sudden the team will be right there in contention.

“Ultimately, not good enough,” Manning said during his postgame press conference. “Obviously you don’t want to start off the season 0-1. They’re a good team. I thought we beat ourselves a lot, and that starts with me. I’ve got to play better for us to win.”

On3’s Thomas Goldkamp contributed to this report