Arch Manning’s season at Texas has gone sideways, and that has kicked off a new round of speculation about where he could land if he leaves in 2027. The Longhorns have already taken two losses before the end of October, Manning has not played well, and even Steve Sarkisian acknowledged after Texas’ loss to Florida that KJ Lacey could see an uptick.
A benching still does not look likely, but it is not completely off the table either. And with Manning’s year going so poorly, the conversation has shifted to whether he might skip the 2027 NFL Draft and stick around in college for another season.
If that happens, the assumption is he would stay at Texas. But if he does enter the transfer portal, a handful of schools stand out.
LSU is an obvious name to circle. Manning played four years of high school football in Louisiana at Isidore Newman in New Orleans, and that school is just 82 miles southeast of Baton Rouge.
He was born and grew up in Louisiana, too. On the football side, LSU head coach Lane Kiffin has already shown he can develop quarterbacks, turning Jaxson Dart into a first-round NFL Draft pick and helping uncover Trinidad Chambliss from DII Ferris State, who is expected to be a top signal-caller picked for 2027.
Sam Leavitt has not played great this season, and though Kiffin won’t say it, he was the coach’s fourth transfer choice behind Trinidad Chambliss, Brandon Sorsby and Washington’s Demond Williams. For Manning, a return to his roots under an offensive coach like Kiffin would be a clean reset.
Georgia also belongs in the mix. Kirby Smart has usually preferred quarterbacks he recruited out of high school and developed in Athens, and Georgia was one of three finalists for Manning back then.
Still, Smart has also dipped into the portal for depth, bringing in Oregon transfer Bryson Beaver this year and adding Jaden Rashada in 2024 as backups to Gunner Stockton. Stockton is a fifth-year senior, while backup Ryan Puglisi has completed 36 passes for 413 yards with three touchdowns and two interceptions over his last two seasons.
Manning’s actual game experience could make him a real fit there, even if it would not be the traditional path for Smart.
Ole Miss makes for one of the more interesting possibilities, especially because Pete Golding has already beaten Kiffin once this season. Ole Miss knocked off LSU 32-24 earlier this year, and Golding also kept Trinidad Chambliss from leaving Oxford for Baton Rouge.
If he wanted to do it again, Manning would be a huge prize. Chambliss is headed to the NFL after this season, and Manning would also be following a family route if he landed in Oxford, where his grandfather Archie and uncle Eli played.
Deuce Knight, who transferred in from Auburn this offseason, is currently the backup, so Manning would not walk into a guaranteed starting job, but his experience could give him an edge.
Oregon is another school with a quarterback picture that could change quickly. Dan Lanning has had a rough year at the position, with Dante Moore expected to miss a second straight game after leaving the UCLA game on Oct. 10 with a concussion.
Oregon has turned to Dylan Raiola and Brock Thomas in his absence, and neither has played especially well. Lanning has not named a starter for this week’s game against Illinois, though Raiola appears to have the edge.
Moore is expected to go to the NFL in 2027, Raiola is a junior this season, and the room behind him looks open. Oregon would be far from home for Manning, but Lanning has already shown he can work the portal, with Moore arriving from UCLA and Dillon Gabriel transferring in from Oklahoma in 2024.
Indiana and Miami only look like possibilities if Manning’s play improves. Both programs have been successful with transfer quarterbacks, including Cam Ward and Carson Beck at Miami and Fernando Mendoza and Josh Hoover at Indiana.
But for either school to seriously line up for Manning, he would need a much stronger body of work than he has right now. Beck and Hoover both had multiple seasons over 3,000 passing yards and steady success as starters, while Mendoza threw for 4,712 yards and 30 touchdowns over two seasons at Cal.
Manning’s numbers are somewhat in the same range, but the tape has not been good enough yet. He has 20 turnovers across his two seasons, and his five losses to Ohio State, Florida and Georgia last season and to Oklahoma and Florida this year have not helped his case.
Indiana and Miami are more likely to chase a quarterback with more consistent production. Still, if Manning finishes the season strong, both could absolutely enter the picture.
In Other News...
Arch Manning Added One More Twist To Ole Miss Loss
Saturdays loss to Texas already came with the kind of national-stage weight Ole Miss fans know all too well, and ABCs top broadcast crew only added to the spotlight. Holly Rowe was on the sideline for the game, which Texas won to stay unbeaten in her presence, and the postgame scene had a little extra edge because of the attention around the Longhorns all afternoon.
Arch Manning leaned into that bit of theater after the game, joking with Rowe that she ought to cover more Texas games. It was a light moment after a tense matchup, and a reminder of how quickly these broadcasts can turn into their own subplot, especially with the earlier Manning-Rowe-Steve Sarkisian controversy now in the rearview. [Read more 🡒]
Paul Finebaum Just Reopened A Painful Ole Miss Quarterback Debate
The late-game mistakes that decided a pair of recent SEC showdowns have put quarterbacks back at the center of the conversation, and Paul Finebaum made sure the Ole Miss angle stayed in focus. On ESPN, Finebaum criticized both Texas quarterback Arch Manning and Ole Miss quarterback Trinidad Chambliss for the turnovers and miscues that helped shape those outcomes, including the Rebels rally in their loss to Texas.
For Ole Miss fans, the frustration is less about one bad stretch than the familiar discomfort of a quarterback debate that never seems to go away cleanly. Finebaum also pointed to Tennessee quarterback George MacIntyres late errors in a loss to South Carolina, but Chambliss three interceptions in the close game against Texas are the part Rebels followers will hear most loudly, because it puts the spotlight right back on how much trust the offense can place in him when the game tightens. [Read more 🡒]
Kirk Herbstreit Had The Perfect Reaction To Ole Miss Wild Finish
Ole Miss pulled off a frantic late rally against Texas in Week 8, even if the comeback ultimately fell short. After tying the game, the Rebels had one more surge of drama in them with an onside kick recovery that sent the broadcast booth into the kind of disbelief college football lives for, and Kirk Herbstreit made it clear he was enjoying the moment as much as anyone watching at home.
Herbstreit later shared video of his reaction, saying he was rooting for the sequence itself rather than either team, which fit the chaos of the finish. Hell be back on College GameDay in Week 9 for Minnesota-Indiana in Bloomington, but for one wild stretch on Saturday night, the spotlight belonged to Ole Miss and a finish that had everyone glued to the screen. [Read more 🡒]