‘There’s no salvaging it now’: Analyst thinks Arch Manning is done at Texas

The Texas Longhorns entered the season with national title expectations, but back-to-back losses to the Oklahoma Sooners and Florida Gators have their College Football Playoff chances dwindling. And with Arch Manning at the center of the struggles, one national writer believes it’s time for Texas to move on.

Following Saturday’s loss to Florida, longtime college football writer Adam Kramer of Bleacher Report argued that Manning’s tenure as the Longhorns’ starter “should be nearing an end,” writing that it’s “best for all parties” if Manning’s time at Texas comes to a close “one way or another.”

Texas’ Two-Game Skid

Texas fell to Oklahoma in Week 6, with Manning’s late interception helping the Sooners pull off the upset. Things didn’t get any better on Saturday.

The Longhorns hopped out to a quick 17-3 lead over Florida, but the Gators, playing with backup quarterback Tramell Jones Jr. in his first career start, scored 24 straight points to take the lead. Manning still had a chance to tie the game or take the lead on the final drive, but he fumbled on the second play, essentially ending the game and allowing Florida to pull off a 27-24 win

After the game, head coach Steve Sarkisian didn’t rule out benching Manning, saying that “everything is going to be evaluated.” That was quite a change from just days earlier, when Sarkisian made headlines for defending his quarterback.

“I think if you took the name off the back of his jersey and you said, ‘Here’s Joe Smith playing quarterback at the University of Texas and here’s a guy who’s beaten four top-10 ranked teams in his last 13 starts,’ we’d be praising the guy,” Sarkisian said earlier in the week, via Bleacher Report. “But the expectations are high for him, and he understands that.”

‘There’s no salvaging it now’

In a column published shortly after Saturday afternoon’s game, Kramer argued that it’s become clear that Manning isn’t going to live up to the enormous expectations that came with his last name.

“What has become increasingly evident week over week, however, is that Arch Manning will never be what so many wanted him to be, what Texas and its loyal fans expected him to be, and what Steve Sarkisian, despite a mountain of evidence that says otherwise, still says he will ultimately become,” Kramer wrote. “At least not now and not at Texas.”

Kramer pointed out that Manning has thrown just 11 touchdowns to his five interceptions through six games, and that his only 300-yard passing game came against Texas State in Week 1. He also took issue with Sarkisian’s “Joe Smith” defense.

“Sarkisian has done nothing but defend his player, and he deserves credit for doing so. The reality of these comments, however, couldn’t be further from reality,” Kramer wrote. “If ‘Joe Smith’ was the starter at Texas, he would have been benched by now.”

Kramer didn’t hold back on Manning’s play, either.

“His accuracy remains problematic, although he never truly looks comfortable playing the position,” Kramer wrote. “He rushes his reads, he leaves the pocket when he doesn’t have to, and he rarely looks to be in a rhythm. It would be one thing if he was still getting his feet wet, but that is not the case. Manning has been on campus for four years now, and these issues are still painfully obvious.”

Manning Done at Texas?

After the recent struggles, Kramer thinks it’s time for Manning and Texas to part ways.

As for what comes next, Kramer believes Manning would likely be “nothing more than a project on a quarterback-desperate franchise” if he went to the NFL, noting that the days of him being a surefire top-five pick “have quickly faded.” Instead, he sees the transfer portal as the most likely outcome, an idea that ESPN’s Todd McShay has also floated.

“This would be best for Manning; it would also make sense for Texas. This once-promising football marriage has lost its luster. And there’s no salvaging it now,” Kramer wrote.

With Texas set to face Ole Miss next Saturday, Kramer also questioned whether Manning should even start that game.

“This feels like a moment. Something has to give, and it sounds like it might,” Kramer wrote. “Saturday was simply the tipping point.”

We’ll have to see whether or not Sarkisian actually decides to put Manning on the bench.

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