Eli Manning had plenty to say after watching his nephew Arch Manning help Texas pull off one of the wildest wins of the young season.
Texas came back from a 20-point second-half deficit to beat then-No. 1 Ohio State, 24-23, and the key sequence came when Manning escaped the pass rush and found tight end Emaree Winston on fourth down to move the chains.
On that same drive, he later connected with Ryan Wingo for Texas’ first touchdown. From there, the Longhorns kept chipping away.
That fourth-down completion to Winston came with 2:21 left in the third quarter and helped set up a fourth quarter in which Manning went 8 of 11 for 83 yards and the touchdown to Wingo. He also guided two more scoring drives that ended with Hollywood Smothers touchdown runs.
Texas Longhorns on SI spoke with Eli as part of his partnership with King’s Hawaiian for the “Best Slider in Football” campaign, and the former quarterback said he reached out to Arch right after the game.
"I sent a text after the game, just saying how proud I was of him, of how he stayed patient during that game," Eli Manning told Texas Longhorns on SI.
He said the biggest thing was that Arch never started pressing when Texas was behind.
"It was a tough game. Things weren't going well early on and they got down, but he didn't force anything.
He didn't try to make plays that weren't there. I've been there before, and you can do that and make things worse.
You can start throwing interceptions and forcing things in there, but he stayed patient, kept the game close, and then finally things started opening up."
Eli also singled out the fourth-down scramble-and-throw that helped swing the momentum.
"He scrambled around, started making some plays when he had to, like that 4th-down play. And so I'm just proud of how he handled the whole circumstance and getting that win. He's still a young player, a young quarterback, and he's figuring out how to handle every circumstance in every game situation.
"He'll continue to learn. He'll continue to grow and just get better from every game that he plays in."
Asked what Texas’ biggest challenge is going forward, Eli kept it simple: the next game.
This Saturday afternoon, Texas heads to Tennessee.
"I think as you enter the SEC and get into the SEC play, you'll learn quickly: the most important opponent is the next one," Eli said.
"And if you're not totally focused and bought in and understand the game plan and bring the energy, it's easy to get beaten and embarrassed in the SEC. So it's got to be Tennessee. That's the one this week, going on the road to 102,000 in a crazy atmosphere.
"So they got to be prepared, be ready, and I know that's what they're doing. That's the mindset. It's great to be No. 1, but your goal is to keep being No. 1, and that's by winning games and playing well."
Texas may have Heisman buzz and national title hopes swirling around it, but Eli’s message was clear: stay locked in on what’s right in front of you.
Now Arch gets another big stage this Saturday in Knoxville, where Texas faces Peyton Manning’s alma mater.
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