Paul Finebaum admits 'disastrous beginning' for Arch Manning, Texas after preseason hype

Paul Finebaum called Arch Manning’s debut for Texas in 2025 “disastrous” in the beginning. Unfortunately for Manning and the No. 1 Longhorns, it ultimately led to a 14-7 loss to No. 3 Ohio State.

The preseason hype was unreal from the start. Manning was pegged a Heisman favorite, although saw his odds drop after Saturday, and Texas was a popular pick for the national title. It’s early of course, but it was an eye opener during the first full weekend.

Finebaum wasn’t ready to pull the plug on Texas and Manning, but it simply has to get better. In fact, he was pretty disappointed in head coach Steve Sarkisian.

“Well, the truthful thing to say is, it was a disastrous beginning,” Finebaum said on Get Up. “Now you can look inside and find good things, but mostly he was not ready for the moment, and neither was his coach. I was more disappointed in Steve Sarkisian, who I had believed was the best offensive play caller in America. He just did not dial up very much. He was out manned on the defensive side by Ohio State, and I came away optimistic that Arch would get better, but that’s not what we were expecting and that’s not what we got.”

Manning finished 17-of-30 passing for 170 yards, one touchdown and one interception. He was limited to 38 rushing yards on 10 carries as well.

Manning struggled throughout the day, missing a few throws and was flushed from the pocket. Finebaum wasn’t the only one who noticed inconsistencies in Sarkisian’s offense either. Analyst David Pollack claimed Manning wasn’t exactly operating a Sarkisian offense. 

“Arch (Manning) definitely deserves to be the story a little bit too to talk about because too many misses,” Pollack said. “Too many misses for Arch on easy stuff. Easy crossers, the Wingo one late that would have given him a chance on third-and-5. Gotta hit that. Wingo, early, throwing at his feet in the red. Texas had opportunities, but I’m shocked at the way the offense ran like this. This, to me, didn’t look like a Sark offense.

“I didn’t see all the fun shifts and motions until the fourth quarter, when he went reverse screen. Then, I was like, ‘OK, that that’s an offense that put me in conflict multiple times.’ He said the pregame presser, ‘We’re gonna sling it. I want Arch to sling it.’ I didn’t feel like they slang it. I feel like they were very conservative early in this football game, and almost protected him a little bit more, probably, than they needed to.”