Tim Tebow’s Arch Manning defense comes with stats that may concern Texas fans

Florida beat Texas 27-24 in Austin on Oct. 17, sealing it with an Arch Manning fumble in the final two minutes and handing the Longhorns a second straight loss to an unranked opponent. On Friday, the Gators’ most famous quarterback went on SportsCenter to defend the Texas quarterback his old school had just beaten.

Tim Tebow agreed that Manning has to play better. He also argued that the quarterback is taking blame that belongs to other people, and he came with numbers.

“It’s easy to jump on the bandwagon of criticizing the young man. I just don’t believe it’s fair, I don’t believe it’s accurate. Yes, I think Arch needs to improve, I think he will improve, and he has to make more plays,” Tebow said.

“But equally as important, he’s got to get more help. His offensive line has to improve. Receivers, although they’re really talented, they also have to improve when they’re getting 1-on-1. And here’s some stats I want to share with you. The last three weeks the pressure rate for the Texas offense has been 137th in the FBS, the sack rate 135th in the FBS, yards before contact for their rushers, 0.5, 127th in the FBS. So it’s really easy to say it’s all on Arch. It’s just not true,” he continued.

“[Arch Manning has] gotta get more help. The offensive line has to improve.”

—@TimTebow on the Longhorns’ recent struggles. https://t.co/GA2j8uxLZ9

— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) October 23, 2026

Do the numbers back up Tebow’s case?

Against Florida, Texas ran for 99 yards, gave up five sacks and was stopped on both a fourth-and-1 and a fourth-and-2. The second stop came near midfield with Texas trailing 20-17 in the fourth quarter, and Florida turned it into a touchdown.

A week earlier against Oklahoma, Manning threw a pick-six and then a second fourth-quarter interception that set up the Sooners’ winning field goal. The Austin American-Statesman’s film review showed Oklahoma defensive back Michael Boganowski coming through the line untouched on that second pick.

On the play that ended the Florida game, the same review found receiver Emmett Mosley V open on an out route before the Gators’ blitz got home. Manning held the ball, took the sack and lost the fumble.

A line ranked 137th in pressure rate over a three-week stretch shortens every dropback, and in back-to-back fourth quarters Manning has been forced to decide faster than he has shown he can. That snap against Florida belongs to him. The conditions that produced it belong to the men in front of him, which is why Tebow’s split of the blame holds up better than the version that puts all of it on the quarterback.

Could Texas pull Manning if Ole Miss jumps out early?

“I would use the word edgy, and I like it. He’s edgy right now. And I think that somebody texted me today that we lost the ‘Aw Shucks’ kid, and we created something else,” Steve Sarkisian told reporters on Thursday.

After the Florida loss, Sarkisian said “everything” about the offense would be evaluated, and backup KJ Lacey was in line for more first-team reps in practice this week. Texas is 4-2 and ranked No. 19, and another loss could knock the Longhorns out of playoff contention entirely with No. 7 Ole Miss visiting Austin on Saturday night.

“It just depends, every game’s different. So I think Arch has had a good week of work, he’s prepared himself well. But like the team, we need to play well, so we’ll go from there,” Sarkisian said when asked if Manning could come out of a game for reasons other than a blowout.