Arch Manning excels as Longhorn quarterbacks dominate the day during the Orange-White game
Highlight plays and healthy finishes are what make spring games exciting, and no team in the country had a more exciting finish to its allotment of 15 practices than the Texas Longhorns. Redshirt freshman quarterback Arch Manning‘s three touchdowns and 355 yards on 19-of-26 passing excited the sizable spring game crowd and headlined the last time fans will get to see the Longhorns in Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium until August.
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The former No. 1 overall prospect’s day started with a precision strike on his very first pass to a wide open DeAndre Moore Jr. A coverage bust between Terrance Brooks and Jaylon Guilbeau let Moore run free into the secondary and Manning hit him in stride for his first touchdown pass.
That wasn’t a one-hit wonder. Manning captained the offense and found his side of the ball in position to score thanks to his own playmaking ability through the air.
That said, the pass to Moore type is an attention-grabber, and stands in significant contrast to his spring game last year that saw him running behind patchwork offensive lines as a third-stringer behind Quinn Ewers (who played all of a handful of snaps and managed a pick-six on one of them) and Maalik Murphy, who has transferred to Duke.
That game crafted an ill-informed yet loud narrative around Manning, one that said that his lofty status was based solely upon his name and family. Those details didn’t matter to the crowd, nor to his teammates. Nor did they prevent him from continuing to make a number of impressive plays in spite of whatever narrative might follow from Saturday’s performance.
Later in the first half, Manning found Jaydon Blue over the middle inside the plus-30. Safety Michael Taaffe was waiting for the throw from his close friend to hit him in his own hands, but Manning led Blue over the middle and No. 23 snatched the ball out of the air and waltzed into the end zone for an easy score.
There was one more long bomb to hit for Manning before his day was over. Manning saw Isaiah Bond easily evade Gavin Holmes and burst up the sideline a few steps ahead of his defender. Manning dropped the ball right in the bucket, and Bond, after some challenging plays earlier in the scrimmage, showcased the speed that made him a lethal target for Jalen Milroe at Alabama.
Manning’s day wasn’t a perfect one, as his Hail Mary attempt at the end of the scrimmage in an attempt to put the White team on top was intercepted by Jelani McDonald. But even with that blemish, he gave Longhorn fans a glimpse of what the quarterback position will look like once Ewers, who was scheduled to play just 1-2 series, is no longer on the 40 Acres.
Manning grabbed the headlines, but quality quarterback play was seen up and down the depth chart. Trey Owens tossed two touchdowns as well, including one on a beautiful 53-yard pass to Ryan Wingo.
No. 2 on the depth chart made plays. So did No. 3. And No. 4? He did the same.
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Fourth-stringer Cole Lourd laced ball past multiple defenders late to fellow walk-on Reece Beauchamp for a late score. Lourd had to zip his pass past multiple defenders and did so just a few plays after throwing an interception to Kobe Black.
Ewers is the entrenched starter, and Sarkisian gave no indication there would be any change in the coming months. Ewers even spoke to the media and complimented Manning on his day.
But in an unofficial contest where many things are made up as they go, the facts show that Manning lead a banner day for the Longhorn quarterbacks.
