Paul Finebaum didn’t wait long to unload after a wild SEC Saturday, and he didn’t stop at one quarterback.
The ESPN analyst used his appearance on “The Matt Barrie Show” on Sunday to hammer late-game mistakes across the league, with Texas quarterback Arch Manning and Ole Miss quarterback Trinidad Chambliss both landing in his crosshairs. Finebaum was reacting to the chaos that surrounded No. 11 Tennessee’s 27-24 loss at South Carolina, a game in which George MacIntyre’s mistakes in the closing minutes turned a Tennessee lead into a Gamecocks win.
“I’ve never seen more teams screw up in the last two minutes in my life,” Finebaum said. “Tennessee gave that game away.
“I’m not a psychiatrist, but the human emotion, there’s so much pressure. We’ve seen Arch Manning and Trinidad Chambliss both make idiotic mistakes, and they’re two of the very best. You get down to the level of a George MacIntyre of Tennessee, who is good and was on the verge of a really big win, and he manages to give it away.”
Tennessee was up 24-17 and faced fourth-and-1 at the South Carolina 38 with less than four minutes left. MacIntyre kept the ball rather than handing it to tight end DaSaahn Brame, and the play came up empty. Afterward, Tennessee coach Josh Heupel called it “just missteps by George on that one.”
South Carolina tied it with 1:17 to play, then Dylan Stewart’s strip-sack of MacIntyre with 33 seconds left set up Malik Orsan’s 48-yard walk-off field goal.
Finebaum’s Manning critique came on the heels of another uneven outing in Texas’ 34-27 win over Ole Miss. Manning’s turnovers helped spark the Rebels’ comeback from a 24-3 halftime hole, but the Longhorns still held on.
The Texas quarterback opened with a first-quarter interception and later lost a fumble in the third quarter, which Kam Franklin recovered in the end zone for a touchdown. Ole Miss picked him off again with the game tied 24-24 early in the fourth quarter.
Manning did bounce back enough to score the go-ahead touchdown on a 1-yard run, but his numbers told the story of a rough day. His minus-0.57 expected points added per dropback was in the second percentile of single-game performances this season.
Finebaum had already gone after Manning once before, calling him “downright stupid” after Texas’ 27-24 loss to Oklahoma on Oct. 10. Before Saturday’s game, he also said Texas coach Steve Sarkisian, not Manning, would take the biggest hit if the Longhorns lost again.
Chambliss was supposed to be the steady one for Ole Miss, especially after ESPN’s Kirk Herbstreit labeled him the best quarterback in the country before kickoff. Instead, he turned in a career-high three interceptions after never throwing more than one in a game for the Rebels.
Texas’ Justin Cryer picked him off on the snap after Manning’s first interception, and Chambliss added another turnover on fourth-and-goal from the Texas 2 with 1:41 left in the first half.
Still, he helped keep Ole Miss alive. Chambliss threw two second-half touchdown passes to Horatio Fields to pull the Rebels even, then guided them into Texas territory after an onside kick. His final chance ended with Jelani McDonald intercepting a Hail Mary on the last play.
The result snapped Texas’ two-game losing streak and moved the Longhorns to 5-2. Ole Miss dropped to 5-2 as well.