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Arch Manning struggles and feels the weight of the Longhorns' crown

by: RT Young4 hours ago
Texas QB Arch Manning
Scott Wachter | Imagn Images

It’s safe to say Arch Manning’s day was Hell.

When you put two former five star quarterbacks in a game, you get ten stars worth of talent and about 2.75 stars of product on the field. Saturday’s win over UTEP was in spite of a miserable offensive performance by Texas, Steve Sarkisian and Manning. And though Malachi Nelson had a couple nice throws for the Miners, he also threw the most on target completions of the day when he hit Longhorns Jelani McDonald and Graceson Littleton in the numbers. It sure wasn’t the prophesied Nelson/Manning matchup recruiting services once dreamed of.

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Despite his two rushing touchdowns, Manning’s first half was so poor he was reduced to being a runner or spectator of James Simon and Mason Shipley in the second. Even though he and Ryan Wingo finally connected with a late touchdown, the offense still squandered short fields and opportunities all day the defense, special teams and Nelson gave them.

Though Texas got the win 27-10, it was the type of victory which makes doubt grow even louder. Like, why is a Sarkisian offense in its fifth year struggling so much with a third year quarterback?

Through eight first half possessions against UTEP, Texas was 1/9 on 3rd down and 2/5 on 4th down. The offense also had three awful 3 and outs. It seems like Texas is no longer at a place where offensive struggles can be attributed to inexperience or rust. There are just several issues which are endemic to the Sarkisian’s offense and a cure is needed. There’s the frequent penalties, the inability to get a push from the offensive line, awkward timing between the quarterback and receivers and a delivery from Manning which is currently inconsistent or unreliable.

Not only did at one point Manning have a stat line of 5/16 with a middle of 10 straight incompletions including a pick and multiple missed opportunities, he also felt a stadium of boos reminiscent of Garrett Gilbert. It was a moment which made the coaching staff and fan’s optimism of just a month ago feel like it was years prior.

But, to be fair, the great Vince Young was once booed here too. Then, he was benched for Chance Mock to save the day. The 40 Acres is a tough place to play quarterback. You’re loved easily and turned on even easier. Just look at the Inside Texas Game Thread for proof. There’s a whole lot of guys in burnt orange who are seeing if they can change the names of their sons or dogs from Archibald to (insert name of Longhorn Internet’s next quarterback love affair).

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Before halftime, Sark said to ESPN: “I told Arch before the season, you’ve never really been a QB until they boo ya. He got booed in the first half. Now he can start playing.”

Today, Manning experienced what was probably the lowest point of his quarterback life, when he felt the weight of the crown in Austin. But now, he (and Sark) can show the world who he really is.

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