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Arch Manning shines as Texas takes down Arkansas in Austin

by: Evan Vieth44 minutes ago
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Arch Manning, Connor Robertson -- Scott Wachter-Imagn Images

Despite offensive struggles all season for the Texas Longhorns, one player has shown to be a step above during SEC play.

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That would be the quarterback that many had already written off. CFBs first flop, if you will, Arch Manning.

Despite a poor start to the season, a bad loss to Florida, a mistake-filled game against Kentucky and an embarrassing defeat last week at Georgia, Manning has consistently dug in and continued playing his game.

As a result, Texas has seen its QB put up multiple strong performances in SEC play, but it’s hard to argue any was better than what he did against Arkansas today in a 52-37 win.

In the first half, Manning was responsible for touchdowns on the first three drives of the game, and they came in some strikingly different ways.

The adage ‘Arch throws bombs’ came out to play on the first drive, stepping up in the pocket, shrugging off potential first-rounder Quincy Rhodes and delivering a beautiful pass 50 yards in the air to DeAndre Moore Jr. for the touchdown.

On the next drive, Manning would methodically drive down the field and score, as the receiver?

Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian called his own version of the Philly Special, placing the ball in the hands of Parker Livingstone on a reverse, who threw a high pass to Manning near the right pylon. QB1 went up and got it, coming down with the TD catch for the second score of the game for Texas.

At that point, Manning was 8-9 with 191 yards passing and two touchdowns.

Despite his defense struggling to contain Arkansas QB Taylen Green and RB Mike Washington, Manning continued to shine. His sack avoidance was at an elite level, and even with his receivers failing to haul in multiple favorable throws, Manning led his offense to six total touchdowns by the end of the third quarter. Four through the air, one on the ground and one as a receiver.

Manning’s final stat line, despite not playing in the fourth quarter, was fantastic:

18-30
389 passing yards
4 passing TDs
1 rushing TD
1 receiving TD

In a game where Texas’ defense struggled, the run game was once again inefficient and multiple different mental errors were made, Manning led Texas to a more than comfortable victory in a rivalry game.

Texas’ star QB is coming into his own at the perfect time and looks like the best player on the field on every dropback. Texas is going to need this level of play when it hosts undefeated Texas A&M next week, an even bigger rivalry game against an even better defense.

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