Desmond Howard doubles down on criticism of Arch Manning: 'I don't even want to hear about Texas for the next three weeks'

We all know by now that Arch Manning did not live up to the incredibly high preseason expectations of him in his first weekend in Columbus. That being the case, Desmond Howard doesn’t want to hear any more about it until a month from now, when Texas opens conference play in the SEC.

Howard discussed Manning’s disappointing debut during an appearance on ‘SportsCenter’ on Friday. That began with a blunt take about Arch as he thought that performance from him came more down to the inexperience of the Longhorns’ quarterback than whatever the Buckeyes’ defense posed to him.

“I’ll tell you what. You know, you mentioned Matt Patricia,” Howard said. “Everyone came out, you know, like, Monday or Tuesday, talking about how, like, Matt Patricia just kind of had this master game plan that just tricked Arch and it tricked Sarkisian, and that was the story of the game. Matt Patricia called a great game. There’s no doubt about that. But Arch Manning left a lot of plays on the field.”

“Either he didn’t have the confidence to pull the trigger or he missed throws with bad angles. Like, he did not play like a person who’s been in the program for three years – meaning he’s had a lot of practices under his belt, talking about scrimmages under his belt, talking about film watching, and even spring ball. He just didn’t seem comfortable at all, like he wasn’t prepared for that game…He’s going to have to get a lot better.”

Manning took a while to even adjust in what ended in a 14-7 loss for No. 1 Texas at No. 3 Ohio State. He, over the first three quarters, was just 9-14 (64.3%) for 38 yards and an interception. Manning would finish being 17-30 (56.7%) for 170 yards and a touchdown to go with that pick but all in all, it wasn’t even what some doubters even expected to see from him.

The good news for Manning is that, after playing a top three matchup and a playoff rematch on the road, he’ll now face three straight mid-majors and have a bye week before his next true test. But, that said, that’s exactly why Howard won’t be too into following Texas over the next month, as there’s not much to judge until they go into The Swamp in the first week of October.

“Now, listen. The next three weeks, they play, like, San José State, I think UTEP, and maybe Sam Houston. I don’t even want to hear about Texas for the next three weeks because those games, those teams aren’t the teams by which you measure the Longhorns,” Howard said. “October 4th? They have to go down to The Swamp and they’ll have to tussle with the Gators. That’s the next game that I have circled, and I want to see how well he plays on the road in Gainesville against Florida.”