Steve Sarkisian shares growth of Arch Manning, Maalik Murphy

The 2023 college football season has been in full swing, and the success of the Texas Longhorns has put quarterback Quinn Ewers under a national spotlight.

It’s hard to imagine Arch Manning‘s true freshman season falling as far under the radar as it has, but head coach Steve Sarkisian assured everyone the prodigy QB is developing nicely since the end of fall camp.

“I think Maalik [Murphy] and Arch have continued to grow systematically in a real sense and understanding of what we’re doing,” Sarkisian said. “I mentioned a couple of weeks ago I thought Arch probably had his best practice that he’d had since he’d been here.

“There has been great intent in that room with those guys working hard and working with [AJ] Milwee to take their game to another level because there’s going to come a time — knock on wood — where their number is going to get called on and we’re going to need them to play a high level of football to win a ballgame.”

The last time fans got to see either Murphy or Manning was back in April during the spring game. Murphy, who led the orange team throughout the day, completed 9-of-13 of his passes for 165 yards and a touchdown. Manning, who was pressured on almost every throw he made during that contest, finished the game with five completions for 30 yards.

Both quarterbacks would be considered starting quarterback material at the majority of other schools in the Big 12 and the rest of the country. Murphy, a former four-star recruit out of the 2022 class, has a ton of upside and came to the program last season from Junipero Serra, the same school that produced Tom Brady.

Manning, of course, came to Texas in January as the No. 1 overall recruit in the country, according to the On3 Industry Rankings, a proprietary algorithm that compiles ratings and rankings from all four primary recruiting media services. The nephew of Super Bowl Champion quarterbacks Peyton and Eli Manning, expectations for Manning, who is the presumed starter once Ewers moves on and Texas steps into the SEC, is all but used to the pressure that comes with the name on the back of his jersey.

They’ll continue to sit on the sidelines and improve behind the scenes as Ewers attempts leads Texas to what many are hoping to be the Longhorns’ first College Football Playoff berth in the final season before its expansion.