Family Tradition: Arch Manning earns a second career win over Mississippi State

One of the under-covered aspects of Arch Manning‘s 2025 season was the fact that he, a Manning, was playing at Mississippi State. The Bulldogs were his grandfather Archie‘s first and biggest rival. It was the school his uncles Peyton and Eli battled in the SEC. His father, Cooper, couldn’t play football but still hated the other team in the Egg Bowl as part of going to Ole Miss.

[Sign up for Inside Texas TODAY and get the BEST Longhorns coverage!]

Like most of his football-playing family members, Arch made sure to save some of his best work for the Bulldogs.

Arch and his uncle Eli now stand as the only members of America’s first football family to record two wins over Mississippi State as starters for their respective teams.

“I thought Arch battled his tail off,” Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian said.

Manning was 29-for-46 for 346 yards and three touchdowns plus a rushing touchdown. He had one interception on a play where his pass intended for Parker Livingstone deflected off both of Livingstone’s hands and into the arms of Kelley Jones.

Aside from that blemish, Manning and the Longhorn receivers were why Texas was even able to manage a comeback. From the point when Mississippi State went up 31-14 with 26 seconds left in the third quarter to when Matthew Caldwell came in for Texas in overtime, Manning was 13-for-21 for 184 yards and two touchdowns. He was only sacked once in that span.

“He battles,” Sarkisian said. “He competes. He takes hits. He gets back up. He stands in the midst of fire and continues to throw. I think he grew up a lot tonight. I think our team grew up tonight. I think Arch Manning grew up tonight.”

Without Manning’s efforts, the Longhorns would not have been able to emerge victorious from their scrap with MSU. Because he delivered them, he joined his uncles and grandfather in delivering yet another defeat to the Bulldogs.

Manning now improves to 2-0 as a starter against Mississippi State. He started the Longhorns’ game in Austin against the Bulldogs in 2024, going 26-for-31 for 325 yards and two touchdowns along with a rushing score. He’s now 55-for-77 (71%) for 671 yards with five touchdowns, one interception, and two rushing touchdowns against a school his family has been a thorn in the side of for three generations.

Eli was 2-1 against MSU as a starter, winning once in Oxford in 2002 and then in Starkville in 2003. Archie was 1-1-1 during his time at Ole Miss, winning his only start in Starkville in 1969. Peyton played the Bulldogs twice as a Vol, going 1-1 and notching a 52-14 win in Knoxville in 1995.

Sarkisian was incredibly complimentary of Manning after the game, saying the comeback effort was a massive step for his development as a quarterback.

“He does everything the right way,” Sarkisian said. “People that do things the right way, sooner or later, the tide turns for you. He’s not trying to do more or different. He’s not hanging his head. He just keep working. I think the work ethic showed itself there in the fourth quarter.”

The fact that Manning had to leave his second win over the Bulldogs does put a damper on the mild achievement. Manning was knocked out of the game after a hard hit at the end of a 13-yard scramble courtesy of Isaac Smith and Kedrick Bingley-Jones. Caldwell came in for Manning and completed his only pass of the night to Emmett Mosley on a 10-yard score.

But all the same, Manning becomes the fourth member of his family to record a win over Mississippi State and the second to notch a second victory over the Bulldogs. While it may not mean much to some families, it’s definitely something that matters to the Mannings.

And it matters that it happened when Texas needed it most. Without Manning, the Longhorns are 5-3 and out of the College Football Playoff race.

Texas had him. Manning made family history. He helped Texas get to 6-2.

He helped Texas win against a foe his family has battled for decades.