Nick Saban thinks Texas may need to get uncomfortable with Arch Manning if the Longhorns want to clean up the mess that has followed their quarterback this season.
Manning’s uneven play has been a problem for the Texas offense, and Saban pointed to Steve Sarkisian’s recent warning as the kind of pressure that can sharpen a talented quarterback. Saban knows the tactic well. During his Alabama days, he wasn’t afraid to pull the trigger on a change, including the famous halftime switch from Jalen Hurts to Tua Tagovailoa in the 2018 national title game against Georgia, a move that helped spark the Tide’s comeback.
"I always say the bench is a pretty good motivator, especially if the guy's a great competitor, which I think Arch is," Saban said Friday on ESPN. "The threat that he might not be entitled to the job may be something that motivates him and keeps him motivated through the rest of the season. He's going to have to play well for them to be able (to win out)."
Saban also said the pressure from Sarkisian had to be made plain.
"Sark made it very clear when he had a meeting with Arch and said to him, 'Look, we can't win with this guy,'" Saban said. "It's always a tough decision for a coach to make a change like that when you have a high-profile player who's very capable and has shown at times he's very capable. But at the same time, I think if Arch doesn't continue to play with consistency, Sark's going to keep it in the bag."
Texas does have another option waiting in the wings, though backup KJ Lacey has barely played this season. Lacey has reportedly picked up more first-team reps in practice lately, but he has not had to deal with the kind of live SEC pressure that Tagovailoa faced when Alabama made its move.
The concern around Manning is easy to see in the results. In both Texas losses this season, he made costly fourth-quarter mistakes that changed the momentum of the game. He also had a shaky late stretch against Ole Miss with the game tied, though Texas managed to escape with the win.
The Longhorns still have plenty in front of them. After Saturday’s matchup with Mississippi State, No.
11 Texas, sitting at 5-2, heads into a November stretch that could decide everything. Trips to ranked Missouri and LSU are coming, followed by Arkansas and Texas A&M to close the regular season.
For now, Texas is projected as an at-large team in updated College Football Playoff projections entering the weekend, with Tuesday night’s first CFP top 25 reveal from the selection committee still ahead.
If the Longhorns win out, they would all but lock up a spot in the playoff and could return to the SEC Championship Game. Even a 4-1 finish would likely leave Texas tangled in a crowded group of nine-win SEC teams, where the final call would come down to resume and whatever the committee decides matters most.
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For Texas, the opener is less about the opponent than about how quickly all those new pieces start to fit together in a live setting. Chicago State, under Landon Bussie, brings back Malek Robinson and adds Foday Sheriff, so the Cougars wont be just a formality in the seasons first game. Still, the bigger storyline for the Longhorns is whether Millers new group looks ready to turn talent into something sharper and more organized right away. [Read more 🡒]