Cam Newton warns Paul Finebaum, Stephen A. Smith to not overreact to Arch Manning struggles

The excitement for Texas Longhorns quarterback Arch Manning had reached a fever pitch leading into the season. Then, he had a very disappointing performance against the Ohio State Buckeyes, and there’s been plenty of backlash in response.

Among those now critical of Manning are some of the analysts who praised him leading into the season, like Paul Finebaum and Stephen A. Smith. However, former quarterback and current analyst Cam Newton pushed back against those two on First Take. Instead, he argued that there shouldn’t be an overreaction to Manning’s struggles.

“I think we’re overreacting just a tad bit,” Cam Newton said. “Yeah, would you have wanted Arch to go out there with a swagger? Absolutely. Did he? When you’re having the type of game where it’s low scoring as it is, it’s hard for anybody to have too much swagger, unless you’re on the defensive side of the ball.”

Texas would only score seven points in the loss, with multiple failed redzone trips. Still, it was a frustrating game for Arch Manning. He finished the day completing 17 of 30 passes for 170 yards, a touchdown, and an interception. He also rushed for 38 yards. Despite that, Cam Newton feels that there is more blame to go around. In particular, the Longhorns as a whole struggled to convert and extend drives, which Newton thinks was a bigger issue.

“There’s a famous quote by the great Bill Belichick, ‘Win the game how the game needs to be won.’ Each game is different, and when you’re asking Steve Sarkisian, would you question his playcalling and his play efforts, but he really tried to put the ball in his guys’ hands to go win the football game. This game really didn’t come down to the point and blame game, more so than guys just saying, ‘Hey, we did not succeed in our quote-unquote gotta have it situations,'” Newton said.

“Gotta have it situations [are] what, you may ask. Third down conversions. 35 percent, around 35 percent. Fourth down conversions. Just one of five. That’s not good enough. That’s not gonna beat anybody, especially not in a hostile environment versus a very good Ohio State defense. So, when you’re looking at this game in its totality, you have to ask yourself, who’s to blame? Well, the blame goes down to the whole team of Texas because we didn’t win the gotta have it situations, and when the game was on the line, those opportunities cannot be missed more than they aren’t missed.”

Texas is still in a good spot to make the College Football Playoff at the end of the season. Arch Manning will also have time to continue to develop. That starts next week against San Jose State.