Kirk Herbstreit: Arch Manning will be judged on Week 1 performance vs. Ohio State

ESPN’s Kirk Herbstreit is a big believer in the pressure on Arch Manning this coming season. But for the Texas QB, it’s through no fault of his own.

Manning goes into his first year as the starter after developing over the last two years. His first game? On the road against Ohio State.

Manning has said all of the right things, has done virtually everything right on and off the field, but he’ll be heavily judged Week 1 against the Buckeyes. Yes, head coach Steve Sarkisian has pressure to deliver a national title this year, but Manning is at the controls.

“To answer your question about pressure, you have the defending national champs that are always under pressure, especially at home,” Herbstreit told The Escapist. “You have Texas coming in with Steve Sarkisian and with Arch Manning. I don’t think it’s a lose-the-game, you’re-out-of-the-playoff kind of game. So I don’t know if it’s that kind of pressure, but I think just the expectations on Arch Manning, he probably has the most pressure.”

Circling back to Manning’s family name, that’s one of those situations where he might have undo pressure and unfair expectations. It’s hard to live up to a Hall of Fame uncle in Peyton and a potential Hall of Fame Eli, his other famous uncle. Heck, Arch Manning’s father Cooper was a football star about to star at Ole Miss before a career ending injury.

“Because of that last name, you can only protect him for so long,” Herbstreit said. “Now he’s going to go out there, and everyone is going to make a judgment on how he plays in that game. Not that he can’t correct it the next week or later in the year, but there’s going to be some strong social media opinions on what they see from Arch based on how he plays in that game Week 1.”

Herbstreit is taking a wait-and-see approach with Manning going into Week 1 against the Buckeyes. But fellow ESPN’er Paul Finebaum is all in and predicted Manning and Texas to win the national title.

“I don’t want to scream ‘out’ this early in the morning, but I do not agree with that at all. Of course, I’m paid not to agree with that. I think the SEC will make it back to the championship game, and I think it’s going to be Texas,” Finebaum said on SportsCenter. “Yes, we’ve had plenty to say about Arch Manning, but that’s not the only thing that Steve Sarkisian has. He has the best team in the country, top to bottom, that is his best roster. He says that, not me, and for that reason, I think they may lose one game along the way, but they’re going to be the national champion when it’s over.”