Arch Manning made his official starting debut with the Texas Loghorns during the team’s big victory over the UL Monroe Warhawks. The spotlight was on the five-star recruit as he filled in for injured Quinn Ewers. Manning was sincere on his performance during his first college football start.
Steve Sarkisian gave Manning the nod as Ewers dealt with an abdominal strain. The Monroe Warhawks were no real threat to the Longhorns and their backup QB was more than capable of leading them to victory. And Manning did just that. Texas cruised their way to a 51-3 victory at home. The win was never in doubt and the game served as an opportunity for Arch to showcase his development and how he fares as the QB1, although only temporarily.
On a game with great highs and some lows, Manning made a firm evaluation on his performance during his college football starting debut.
“Probably a C+, but a win is a win.”
Arch finished the night with 258 passing yards, two touchdowns and two interceptions. Though the second turnover was off a deflection. Manning showcased his great deep passes in several ocassions and hinted towards the potential that has fans hyped for the future QB1.
Sarkisian speaks on Manning’s starting debut
Quinn Ewers is the guy in the Texas Longhorns program. That was never in doubt, no matter how Manning’s start went. As Arch had an overall good game, despite some errors which will be adressed going forward, head coach Sarkisian expressed his feelings with the backup’s first look at the starting position.
“Learning lessons, right? To think he was going to come out and play a perfect game, I don’t think anybody in here thought that,” Sarkisian said, via InsideTexas. “He was going to have some lessons learned and I think that’s what tonight was about.”
Manning had an unique learning opportunity against an opponent that, though they made things uncomfortable for him and the Longhorns, the win was never at stake. Arch faced a low risk, medium reward matchup.
The Longhorns will now prepare for next Saturday’s match against Mississippi State. The Longhorns will kickstart their SEC schedule next week as they look to build on to their 4-0 start to the NCAA season. Whether Ewers reclaims the starting job or Manning starts in consecutive weeks remains unclear. Though, most point towards the former.