TAMPA - Arch Manning’s first season as Texas’ starting quarterback came with two very different snapshots.
The opener at Ohio State was rough from the start. Manning looked unsettled, got pressured, missed throws and walked off with the No. 1 Longhorns having managed only seven points against the Buckeyes.
The finish was a whole different story. In the Citrus Bowl, Manning threw and ran for 376 yards and four touchdowns in a 41-27 win over Michigan, a performance that gave Texas something resembling a clean ending to a year that had been anything but smooth.
“My dad [Cooper] and brother [Heid] came into the locker room and I hugged it out with them,” Arch recalled. “That was a special moment for me.”
Texas still missed the College Football Playoff, so the bowl win was only partial relief. But it did show Manning settling in, playing freer and looking more like the quarterback people had spent months talking about. The problem was that the conversation around him had already gone off the rails.
Before he had built much of a college résumé, Manning was being crowned in advance. Then came the backlash, and that was just as extreme.
He appeared in national commercials before he had done much on the field. He was labeled “college football’s first flop” in a midseason column.
Every throw, every mistake, every flash was treated like a referendum.
Steve Sarkisian said the public pressure would have crushed almost anyone.
“What he got put through probably would have melted or destroyed 99% of people in his shoes,” Texas coach Steve Sarkisian said. “All he did was stay consistent and true to who he was, which was to continue to work hard, continue to be a great teammate, try to get better, and he did.”
Manning held up, but not without signs that the season left a mark. At his second SEC media days, he came across a little more guarded, with shorter answers and a quieter edge. Even with all the praise he has long received for his maturity, last year seemed to teach him a few hard lessons.
Sarkisian pushed back on the idea that Manning ever invited the hype.
“Arch Manning a year ago wasn’t on social media or on television saying, ‘I’m going to be the first pick of the draft,’ ” Sarkisian said. “He wasn’t on television saying, ‘I’m going to win the Heisman Trophy.’
All he did was work really hard. All he did was try to be the best teammate he can be.
“Then we had some failures as a team. He didn’t play to the way of what he was capable of playing.
Then those same people that were saying that about him wanted to criticize and demean him almost for letting them down because he didn’t live up to what they thought he was going to be. Very interesting concept right there.”
The expectations are back again, even if the certainty is not. Texas is projected to open in the top five, though not at No.
- Manning is once more being mentioned as one of the best quarterbacks in the country and a top NFL prospect, but the field around him is crowded.
His numbers from last season don’t make a clean case for preseason Heisman favorite status. Manning’s pass efficiency rating of 144.92 ranked 42nd nationally and seventh in the SEC.
His total offense of 274 yards per game ranked 29th nationally and seventh in the SEC. He did improve late, throwing 14 touchdown passes with two interceptions over the final six games, but he was not at his best in losses to Ohio State, Florida and Georgia, or in wins over Kentucky and Texas A&M.
For a player who spent two years behind Quinn Ewers and carried all that family quarterback knowledge, the adjustment was still bigger than many expected. Now, the hope is that Year 2 looks more like a veteran’s season.
“I feel like I’ve matured as a person,” he said. “Then just continue to get better, get more accurate, make better decisions, put my team in the best position possible to win games.”
One word kept coming up from Manning on Thursday: “fun.”
“I’m just trying to be the best teammate I can be right now and help us win games on Saturdays and have fun while I’m doing it,” Manning said. “I think the more fun we have, the better I play, and I think the better we play as a team.”
That may be the simplest lesson from the first season. The job comes with pressure, scrutiny and a never-ending checklist. But for Manning, the next step is about finding some of the joy again while Texas heads back into the season with the spotlight waiting.
Hopefully, this time, everyone lets him breathe.
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