Greg McElroy: ‘Arch Manning is beginning to reach the preseason hype’

Arch Manning may have been the most hyped player this preseason since Florida‘s Tim Tebow. However, the Texas quarterback struggled early to live up to expectations. After Texas’ latest win over Vanderbilt, ESPN’s Greg McElroy believes Manning is becoming the player fans expected to see at the beginning of the season.

“Arch Manning is beginning to reach the preseason hype, just slowly. Not there yet, but you’re starting to see the glimmer of what we thought he might be going into the season,” McElroy said. “A lot of it has to do with the fact that they’re protecting him, finally. I mean, he had plenty of time.

“He was getting the ball out of his hands, but he also had plenty of time. Vanderbilt had no answers there early in the game. They had no pass rush. They had no opportunities to get guys behind the sticks. They never got Texas off schedule. They didn’t have any sacks. They didn’t force any turnovers. So, when you look at everything, this was a very, very impressive performance from Texas from start to finish.”

Texas has had trouble protecting Manning in the pocket this season. The Longhorns have allowed 18 sacks, ranking No. 89 in the nation.

In their 34-31 win over Vanderbilt on Saturday, the Longhorns’ front five didn’t allow a single sack. In turn, Manning completed 25-of-his-33 pass attempts for 328 yards and three touchdowns, without throwing an interception.

Manning posted a season-high 93.1 QBR in the win, as well. In Texas’ previous two outings, Manning had been sacked a combined eight times. McElroy thinks Arch Manning and Texas could be hitting their stride at the perfect time.

“With a young offense and an offensive line that’s now playing to their potential, and a young quarterback that might be approaching the confident level that you need to have to be elite in this game, and they’re going into the bye week, people need to start thinking about Texas as a potential spoiler in the College Football Playoff. This is a team that can absolutely get there,” McElroy said.

“They have one loss, of course, to a really good Ohio State team. They have a fairly inexcusable loss on the road at Florida. But this team might be playing their best football here at the end of the year.”

Texas will rest up this week before squaring off against Georgia on Nov. 15 at 6:30 p.m. CT. The game will air live on ABC.