Brent Venables didn’t spend much time trying to downplay Arch Manning.
With Texas rolling into the Red River Rivalry at 4-0 and ranked No. 1, the Oklahoma head coach made it clear he sees the Longhorns quarterback as the kind of problem that doesn’t come with many clean answers.
“Arch is a fantastic talent; he's got a cannon of an arm, he can really run, he's a tremendous athlete,” Venables said about facing Manning on Saturday. “A guy like him, he's got no weaknesses when it comes to his talent, his ability, his arm, his legs, his instincts...
Great player. His best football is still in front of him.
Great competitor. Guy has won a lot.”
Manning has backed up that kind of praise with wins. Texas fans could point to last season’s rough patches, but after the loss to the Florida Gators in his first-ever SEC start, he has looked like a different quarterback. He has gone 12-3 overall and remained undefeated in the state of Texas as the Longhorns’ QB1.
He also handled Oklahoma in last year’s rivalry meeting, completing nearly 78% of his passes for 166 yards and a touchdown.
Venables also gave credit to Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian for putting the right players around Manning, helping make the whole operation go. Still, the comments landed like a full endorsement of the Texas star.
That said, there’s another layer here. Venables’ quarterback track record at Oklahoma hasn’t exactly inspired confidence.
Since arriving in Norman in 2022, he has had just one truly good quarterback: Dillon Gabriel, who transferred to play for the Oregon Ducks after two seasons with the Sooners.
The rest of the picture has been much messier. Jackson Arnold flopped at the Power Conference level at Oklahoma, then struggled again at Auburn before finally finding some footing this year with the UNLV Rebels.
Backup Michael Hawkins Jr. looked unable to get much done with the Sooners, but is thriving with the West Virginia Mountaineers. And John Mateer has been one of the season’s bigger disappointments so far, with more turnovers than touchdowns.
That backdrop makes Venables’ evaluation of Manning a little harder to separate from Oklahoma’s own issues. Ben Arbuckle is the Sooners’ offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach, and plenty of the blame can sit there too. But Venables is the one responsible for finding and hiring the right people for those jobs, and that part has not gone smoothly.
For now, the matchup gives Manning a chance to separate himself from Mateer, who has posted a somewhat similar stat line through the first four games. And at the moment, Venables sounds like a coach who sees the challenge clearly - but doesn’t have an obvious answer for it.
In Other News...
Texas Faces A New SEC Reality As Remaining Schedule Shifts
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For a No. 1 Texas team, that matters because the margin for error in November can shrink fast when opponents are trending in different directions. Some of these teams are coming off uneven performances, others are dealing with personnel concerns, and coaching comments suggest there is still plenty of uncertainty left to sort out before kickoff. The Longhorns cant control any of it, of course, but the evolving shape of the schedule adds another layer of intrigue to a race that already has plenty on the line. [Read more 🡒]
Texas Special Teams Carry One Big Concern Into Oklahoma
Special teams have quietly become one of the early-season stress points for Texas, and the issue is hard to ignore with the Red River Rivalry next on the schedule. Through the first four games, the Longhorns have not been as sharp in the kicking game as they need to be, and that area matters even more in a matchup like Oklahoma, where field position and hidden yardage can swing the tone of the day.
Steve Sarkisian has already pointed to the need for more depth on special teams, especially to keep defensive starters from doing too much work there. Texas also carries a reminder of how quickly things can turn against it, after the Tennessee game featured a long punt return touchdown and a late onside-kick recovery, the kind of sequence that can change a close game and one the Longhorns cannot afford to repeat in Dallas. [Read more 🡒]
Easton Royal Is Putting Texas Fans Through One More Stressful Month
Five-star wide receiver Easton Royal has been committed to Texas for more than 10 months, but the recruiting spotlight around him has hardly gone dark. The Longhorns have continued to stay engaged, and Texas coaches Steve Sarkisian and Chris Jackson recently made a trip to see him in Louisiana during the teams bye week, a reminder that this race is still being managed with plenty of attention.
Royal has also lined up additional game-day visits to Florida, Texas, and LSU over the coming weeks, with stops set for October 10, October 17, November 7 and November 14. For Texas fans, it is the kind of late-fall recruiting drama that can make a pledge feel a lot less settled than it once did, even if the Longhorns remain firmly in the mix for one of the biggest names on their board. [Read more 🡒]