A long week for Texas quarterback Arch Manning ended with a ho-hum performance against UTSA.
A Heisman Trophy contender, Manning threw for 161 yards and two touchdowns as No. 1 Texas earned a 30-6 win over UTSA at Royal-Memorial Stadium on Saturday. Manning competed 16 of his 32 passes – that 50.0 completion percentage was his lowest of the season – but he did not commit any turnovers.
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Saturday’s game closed out a week in which the senior quarterback apologized after making an “insensitive comment” to the media on Monday about an AI-generated video that featured Texas coach Steve Sarkisian slapping ESPN reporter Holly Rowe. Manning didn’t address his off-field controversy during the few minutes he spent at UT’s postgame availability, but he also didn’t sugarcoat his on-field performance against the Roadrunners.
“(My performance was) not good enough,” Manning said. “I didn’t play well. Offense, we were a little sloppy. We’ve got to be better if we want to beat Tennessee.”
As Texas built a 20-3 lead in the first half, Manning threw two touchdown passes to Cam Coleman. Manning wasn’t intercepted before halftime, but he wasn’t sharp either as he misfired on nine of his 20 attempts.
An often-scrambling Manning was also UT’s leading rusher in the first half with 34 yards. Manning absorbed a few hits at the end of his five first-half carries, and he even lost his helmet after one tackle. That play forced Texas to burn a timeout in order to avoid having backup KJ Lacey take a snap.
Manning, who said he wasn’t fazed by the aforementioned hit, finished with 50 rushing yards on nine attempts. Sarkisian later assessed that Manning may have relied too much on his legs against the Roadrunners.
“Arch kind of fell in love with his legs a little bit tonight,” Sarkisian said. “His legs are a really good weapon… but what happens when you go to run, you can start speeding up through your progressions. We don’t want to make a living with him running the ball as much as he ran tonight.”
For the season, Manning has now thrown for 664 yards, seven touchdowns and two interceptions while completing 61.9% of his passes. Manning and the Longhorns will travel to No. 15 Tennessee next weekend for their SEC opener.
This article originally published at Texas football: Arch Manning ends week with performance that was ‘not good enough’ vs UTSA.
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