Mel Kiper previews Arch Manning debut as Texas' QB1: 'Never remember a game as anticipated'

Arch Manning is about two days out from making his much-anticipated season debut in what will be a top-three matchup in Columbus. However, if Manning struggles in what will be his third career start, ESPN’s Mel Kiper doesn’t think anyone needs to overreact about it.

Kiper spoke about Manning during an appearance on ‘Get Up’ on Thursday morning. He began discussing the hype around the quarterback, which is even louder for this game between No. 1 Texas and No. 3 Ohio State, despite Manning having just double-digit pass attempts made and a pair of starts so far in college.

“Forty-eight years I’ve been covering college football. Never remember a game as anticipated as this one,” Kiper said. “It’s all about Arch. He’s only had 12 pass attempts after the month of September last year. Only 95 career pass attempts. Yeah, he’s being talked about being the number one pick in the draft, leading Texas to a national championship, winning a Heisman trophy – that’s a trifecta. That’s a lot of pressure on a quarterback.”

That said, this is a big moment for Manning, which is why Kiper doesn’t blame him if he doesn’t live up to all of this hype from the first snap this fall. He’s still an inexperienced quarterback, despite the name he has to live up to and deal with the pressure of already.

“Going up against Matt Patricia, new defensive coordinator. Remember, (Bill) Belichick against rookie quarterbacks? (They) didn’t do too well, right,” Kiper said. “And, this defense lost a lot of guys at Ohio State, but they return some stars. They got a kid in Kenyatta Jackson Jr. coming off the edge, you got Sonny Styles at linebacker, you got Caleb Downs at safety, and Jermaine Matthews Jr. at corner. That Ohio State defense has some formidable talent on that side of the ball.

“I think, when you look at where we are with Arch, to play this opponent? I think Jordan (Rodgers) was talking about the cupcakes,” Kiper Jr. added later, noting how Manning will have time to develop further before conference play starts in October. “Now you’ve got at Ohio State, at The ‘Shoe, a high noon kickoff against Matt Patricia. That’s going to be tough to navigate, but they have three cupcakes after this to kind of right the ship.”

Regardless of how he plays, whether great, awful, or otherwise, opinions will be made of Manning coming out of game one this season and start three for him ever. Still, Kiper isn’t expecting everything from Manning against the Buckeyes on Saturday, with a lot of season to play for the Longhorns and their new starting quarterback.

“This game is not all about this game,” Kiper Jr. said. “If he does have some issues, it won’t be unexpected because, like I said, you’re playing a defense that has talent, that has Matt Patricia and you’re on the road, and the expectations and the pressure is immense for this kid. So, even if he does struggle, so be it.”

“They still have time,” Kiper Jr. said. “You can still make the playoff, obviously, with a couple losses, so the season’s not over and it’s certainly not over for Arch and this Texas Longhorns football team if in fact they do have some struggles at The ‘Shoe, high noon on Saturday.”