Booger McFarland would 'double down' on Arch Manning after season-opening struggles

Criticism of Texas quarterback Arch Manning in the fallout of the Longhorns’ 14-7 loss to Ohio State has been widespread. However, ESPN’s Booger McFarland is someone who has decided to double down on the legacy signal caller moving forward.

“He doesn’t have it yet, but I think he’ll get it. So am I buying stock in Arch? Yeah,” McFarland said during an appearance on Pardon My Take after Week 1. “You know, the most surprising thing about Arch is this, is that he’s got an uncle that’s in the Hall of Fame, that’s a four time MVP. He’s got another uncle that’s a two-time Super Bowl champion, that’ll probably get in the Hall of Fame. He’s got a granddad who’s a legend, and a dad, who I think, has raised him as good as any father could raise a superstar.

“And he seemed unprepared for the moment. All of that wealth of knowledge around him, he seemed unprepared.”

Manning didn’t look entirely comfortable in the pocket during the season opener. While some of that can be attributed to Ohio State’s elite defense, Manning’s inexperience was apparent down the stretch. He suffered from several inaccurate throws and wasn’t able to find the end zone until the fourth quarter.

He finished the game completing 17-30 passing for 170 yards, one touchdown and and an interception. Still, McFarland doesn’t believe Week 1’s performance will impact Manning all that much down the stretch.

“I would double down on Arch,” McFarland said. “Okay, I would put more money on Arch because, I think just because of the pedigree and the worker. And what I’ve heard about him, I think he’s going to be phenomenal. Like, he’s 6-foot-3, 6-foot-4, he’s 220 (pounds), he runs a 4.6 in the 40. He looked like a kid that had been swimming in four-feet for a long time. And for the first time, mom and dad threw him in the 12-feet, and they didn’t get in with him.”

Manning will get three chances — against San Jose State, UTEP and Sam Houston in consecutive weeks — to get his feet wet in the deep end before kicking off Southeastern Conference action against No. 13 Florida on the road during Week 5.

First up are the Spartans, and kickoff is set for Saturday, Sept. 6 at Noon ET live on ABC. Texas is a 36.5-point betting favorite over San Jose State, according to BetMGM.