Cam Newton issues challenge to Arch Manning ahead of facing Georgia

Arch Manning has already had a roller coaster first season as Texas‘ starting quarterback. And that’s not likely to change much down the stretch as the 10th-ranked Longhorns close out the regular season against a pair of Top 5 SEC powers.

That challenge begins Saturday night in Athens, when Manning leads No. 10 Texas (7-2, 4-1 SEC) into Sanford Stadium against No. 5 Georgia (8-1, 6-1 SEC) in a high-stakes showdown with significant implications for both the SEC championship and College Football Playoff races. The Longhorns then close out the regular season by hosting No. 3 Texas A&M (9-0, 6-0 SEC) in Austin on Rivalry Weekend.

But before then, Manning must get through the fifth-ranked Bulldogs, which have won 35 of their last 36 games inside Sanford Stadium, the only loss coming earlier this season on Sept. 27 vs. Alabama. No small task to say the least, but one ESPN‘s Cam Newton believes Manning needs to further establish his legacy as the newest scion of the First Family of Football.

“Arch is a damn good quarterback, we know it’s in his bloodline, that’s what everybody knows. But when you start to see quarterbacks (when) the light switches (on), this game is needed for him to be impactful, … for his confidence, for his overall aura, because he’s got some sauce to him,” Newton said during Friday morning’s First Take on ESPN. “I appreciate that about ol’ Archibald. But dang, (he needs to) put it together against a team that everybody in the college (football) world respects and understands they’re not no cake walk. Every athlete understands it’s not what you do, it’s who you do it to.”

Ryan Clark applauds Arch Manning for fighting through adversity during Texas’ season

Manning entered the season with monstrous expectations, but really struggled across his first seven games. However, he has been a different quarterback over the Longhorns’ past two games, passing for 346 yards against Mississippi State and 328 yards against No. 16 Vanderbilt. In that span, he’s also thrown six touchdowns and just one interception.

Of course, next up is Saturday’s Top 10 showdown vs. No. 5 Georgia, which kicks off at 7:30 pm ET Saturday in Athens. Ahead of that monstrous SEC matchup, ESPN‘s Ryan Clark joined ‘First Take‘ to applaud Manning for fighting through adversity this season to get to where he is now.

“The one thing I do want to say about (Arch Manning) and his family is that none of the things that were heaped on him before the season were because of him,” Clark said. “He said himself ‘allow me to play football.’ His family hasn’t come out and refuted anything. They haven’t said anything to the negativity that he’s received, and all that young man has done is put his head down and continue to work.

“Steve Sarkisian has done an amazing job of allowing Arch Manning to progress this season,” Clark continued. “And if he does play extremely well against Georgia and if that team wins, there has to be so much positivity heaped on the way he’s fought through adversity this season. A lot of people never saw him facing that, and definitely didn’t have him coming out of it the way he has.”

— On3’s Daniel Hager contributed to this report.