Paul Finebaum didn’t spend Sunday easing into his criticism. He went straight at two of college football’s biggest quarterback names, putting Texas’ Arch Manning and Ole Miss’ Trinidad Chambliss in the same breath as the kind of late-game breakdowns that can flip a Saturday in a hurry.
On “The Matt Barrie Show,” Finebaum was reacting to No. 11 Tennessee’s 27-24 loss at South Carolina, a game that ended with George MacIntyre’s miscue on fourth down and a late fumble turning a close road win into a Gamecocks walk-off.
“I’ve never seen more teams screw up in the last two minutes in my life,” Finebaum said. “Tennessee gave that game away.
“I’m not a psychiatrist, but the human emotion, there’s so much pressure. We’ve seen Arch Manning and Trinidad Chambliss both make idiotic mistakes, and they’re two of the very best. You get down to the level of a George MacIntyre of Tennessee, who is good and was on the verge of a really big win, and he manages to give it away.”
Tennessee had a 24-17 lead and faced fourth-and-1 at the South Carolina 38 with less than four minutes left. Instead of handing off to tight end DaSaahn Brame, MacIntyre kept it himself. Afterward, Josh Heupel said it was “just missteps by George on that one.”
South Carolina responded by tying the game with 1:17 remaining, then got the decisive break when Dylan Stewart stripped MacIntyre with 33 seconds left. Malik Orsan finished the sequence with a 48-yard walk-off field goal.
Finebaum’s broader point came into sharper focus with what happened in Oxford and Austin. Manning’s turnovers helped No.
7 Ole Miss rally from a 24-3 halftime hole before No. 19 Texas escaped with a 34-27 win Saturday night.
The Texas quarterback threw a first-quarter interception, then lost a third-quarter fumble that Kam Franklin recovered in the end zone for a touchdown. Ole Miss intercepted him again with the game tied 24-24 early in the fourth quarter.
Manning still found a way to put Texas back in front, scoring the go-ahead touchdown on a 1-yard run, but the underlying numbers were rough: his minus-0.57 expected points added per dropback ranked in the second percentile of single-game performances this season.
Finebaum had already taken a hard line on Manning after Texas’ 27-24 loss to Oklahoma on Oct. 10, when he called him “downright stupid.” Before Saturday’s game, Finebaum said Steve Sarkisian, not Manning, would be the one under the most pressure if Texas stumbled again.
Chambliss, meanwhile, entered Saturday with a big endorsement from ESPN’s Kirk Herbstreit, who named him the best quarterback in the country before kickoff. But the Ole Miss starter had his worst interception game as a Rebel, throwing three picks after never previously throwing more than one in a game for the program.
Texas’ Justin Cryer picked him off on the snap after Manning’s first interception, and Chambliss added another turnover on fourth-and-goal from the Texas 2 with 1:41 left in the first half.
He did help Ole Miss claw back, throwing two second-half touchdown passes to Horatio Fields to tie the game. After an onside kick, he drove the Rebels into Texas territory, but Jelani McDonald intercepted his Hail Mary on the final play.
Texas snapped a two-game losing streak and improved to 5-2. Ole Miss dropped to 5-2.
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What makes the decision linger is how Texas Tech won around him, too. The Red Raiders controlled the line of scrimmage and got strong play from their linebackers, which gave the offense room to breathe and made the quarterback spot feel even more interesting going forward. After a win like this, McGuire has given the fan base something it did not expect to be discussing this late in the season. [Read more 🡒]