Steve Sarkisian's own experience with rough debuts must help him guide Arch Manning

Back in 1995, Steve Sarkisian‘s debut as quarterback for the BYU Cougars didn’t go all that well. Just ask Joe Baird of The Salt Lake Tribune, who started his game story with this piercing sentence: “Saddam Hussein had better days against the Air Force than Brigham Young did Saturday.”

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That one still stings.

Doing some research and here's how Steve Sarkisian's first start at BYU in 1995 went if you were wondering. pic.twitter.com/zmD8DaYj0x

— Joe Cook (@josephcook89) September 3, 2025

Baird called Sarkisian’s debut “a day to forget.” Sarkisian himself said “we had a lot of opportunities. The defense played pretty well in the first half, but we didn’t capitalize. We didn’t make the plays.”

On Monday, Sarkisian recalled that the 38-12 loss to Air Force “was not a great day. It was an 11 a.m. kick. I’ll never forget that day. They had a good team.”

Those descriptions should sound familiar to Sarkisian. Thirty years after his first road start, which was also his first start for the Cougars following an accomplished junior college career, Arch Manning didn’t make the plays in his own first road start at Ohio State. The Texas defense played well in the first half, but his offense couldn’t capitalize. Manning had the opportunities but couldn’t take advantage of them.

Manning probably won’t forget that day in Ohio Stadium, either. But he needs to use that day as motivation to play much better the rest of the way.

Sarkisian bounced back after that game. BYU went 7-3 following the season-opening loss and won a share of the WAC. Sark led the conference in completion percentage, yards, yards per attempt, and yards per game. That all came after a 25-for-42 game against Air Force with two touchdowns and two interceptions.

Of course, 2025 Ohio State is a different beast than 1995 Air Force and most other Air Force teams. The Falcons didn’t have Caleb Downs, or Sonny Styles, or Davison Igbinosun, or Matt Patricia. Ohio Stadium is a completely different venue than Falcon Stadium. It’s double the size. It makes sense that Manning had half the touchdowns and interceptions as a result.

From a distance, the challenge ahead of Manning looks like the one Sarkisian went through 30 years ago. That BYU team had elevated expectations. Texas has elevated expectations. That Cougar quarterback, Sarkisian, had a good amount of hype after two quality junior college years before getting his first road start at the Division IA level. That Longhorn quarterback, Manning, had an unprecedented amount of hype after two quality years as backup before getting his first road start at the Football Bowl Subdivision level.

With Manning, Sarkisian can’t settle for his star pupil simply bouncing back from a rough road start. Sarkisian has to make sure Manning does more than just bounce back. For Texas to get where it wants to go this year and play 15 or 16 more games, Sarkisian needs to guide Manning to a level of excellence that he didn’t see as a player but is quite familiar with as a coach.

Sarkisian has worked with a lot of great quarterbacks, often listing them off by rote. Carson Palmer. Matt Leinart. Jake Locker. Tua Tagovailoa. Mac Jones. Quinn Ewers.

He has one in Manning that could be better than all of them. But Sark has to be able to get the immense physical talent out of Manning while still keeping his head locked onto the task at hand. No matter what your family business is, that’s not easy for young quarterbacks. It’s not something simply passed on generation to generation without working at the craft.

“I think it’s learning from the game,” Sarkisian said Monday. “I think that one thing that happened a little bit to Arch is the game can mount on you a little bit, and you feel like ‘oh man, we’re not scoring.’ Or ‘I missed a read.’ Or ‘I missed a throw.’ When in reality, you look at the scoreboard and it’s still 0-0. The game can mount, and you feel like you’ve got to make a play, and you look at the scoreboard and it’s 7-0.”

Manning took what his coach said to heart on Monday. After lunch with his parents and dinner with his brother on Sunday, he appeared grounded and with the type of focus needed to improve his own game and improve Texas to 1-1 and beyond.

“I hold myself to a high standard and recognize I’ve got to play better,” Manning said. “Got to lead more, got to get our guys to play well around me. Ultimately, it wasn’t good enough.”

Sarkisian identified postgame that getting Manning working and in the flow of the football game, even by subjecting him to a hit or two in the run game, is something he might not have recognized the importance of before Saturday. Though Sarkisian has had two years with Manning, he’s only had 10 opportunities to see him in game. There were unknowns to sort through.

Similar applied for Sarkisian when he was a quarterback. Edwards knew about Sark coming from the junior college ranks but didn’t have the time built up with him ahead of that 1995 debut at Air Force.

Sark can differentiate himself from his mentor, though. He has two years with Manning. Even if he doesn’t have all the data, he has more than enough to elevate him and prepare his quarterback for the next road opportunity. He has a better player to work with. That’s not an insult to Sarkisian the quarterback. He’d probably say the same.

He also has a better team. At BYU from 1996 to 1999, only eight Cougars were drafted. Texas might eclipse that number this year.

Sarkisian knows the pain of a tough plane ride home, especially after a first road start. He can help his quarterback avoid the ire of media members with biting commentary. He can help his quarterback excel at a level he could have only dreamed of as a player. He can help Manning live up to the realistic, lofty potential he possesses.

And he can do it all with Manning starting Saturday against San Jose State, just like he had to do after his own first road loss as a Division I starting quarterback.