Ryan Clark applauds Arch Manning for fighting through adversity during Texas' season

Texas sophomore quarterback Arch Manning entered the season with monstrous expectations, but really struggled across his first seven games. However, he has been a different quarterback over the Longhorns’ past two games. And because of that, both of those games resulted in wins.

After hitting the 300-plus yard passing mark just once in his first seven games, Manning passed for 346 yards against Mississippi State and 328 yards against No. 16 Vanderbilt. In that span, he’s also thrown six touchdowns and just one interception.

It appeared as if the program would certainly not be returning to the College Football Playoff following its loss to Florida on Oct. 4, but it now appears as if the Longhorns control their own destiny. Heading into their final three games, they are ranked No. 10 in the CFP Rankings. However, two of those final three games are against teams currently projected to be in the playoff (No. 5 Georgia and No. 3 Texas A&M).

Ryan Clark says Manning deserves admiration for battling through admiration

The first of those two games kicks off this Saturday at 7:30 p.m. ET. Ahead of that monstrous SEC matchup, ESPN‘s Ryan Clark joined ‘First Take‘ to applaud Manning for fighting through adversity this season to get to where he is now.

“The one thing I do want to say about (Arch Manning) and his family is that none of the things that were heaped on him before the season were because of him,” Clark said. “He said himself ‘allow me to play football.’ His family hasn’t come out and refuted anything. They haven’t said anything to the negativity that he’s received, and all that young man has done is put his head down and continue to work.

“Steve Sarkisian has done an amazing job of allowing Arch Manning to progress this season. And if he does play extremely well against Georgia and if that team wins, there has to be so much positivity heaped on the way he’s fought through adversity this season. A lot of people never saw him facing that, and definitely didn’t have him coming out of it the way he has.”

Manning will make first career start against Georgia on Saturday

Manning faced massive expectations heading into the season, and maybe that was unfair to him. Although he only made a few starts last season in place of an injured Quinn Ewers, he was lauded as the preseason Heisman Trophy favorite and potential No. 1 pick in the NFL Draft. For many players, it takes time to get adjusted to life as a starting quarterback in the SEC. Although his last name is Manning, Arch was not an exception.

He, however, seems to be improving by the week. Texas will certainly need a big performance from its quarterback this Saturday against Kirby Smart‘s Bulldogs. Last year, two of Texas‘ three losses were to Georgia. Revenge, however, isn’t a driving factor in taking down the Bulldogs, Sarkisian revealed on Tuesday.

“No, I just want to win Saturday night at 7:30 and try to get to 5-1 in conference play,” Sarkisian said. “That’s really the extent of it.”

Kickoff on Saturday is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. ET. The game can be seen on ABC