Rival coach applauds Texas quarterback Arch Manning handling ‘unfair’ expectations

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After two years sitting behind Quinn Ewers at Texas, Arch Manning got his chance to be the starter in 2025. Expectations were for Manning to immediately be a star and a Heisman candidate, but it took time for the quarterback to get accustomed to being the starter.

Manning struggled early in the year, throwing five interceptions in his first five games. This led to scrutiny for the quarterback, but he grew throughout the season, something that was noticed by a rival defensive coordinator, per Adam Rittenberg of ESPN.

“He’s handled this situation better than anybody could possibly do,” the coach said. “The expectations aren’t fair, so personally, I hope he has a great year. Hopefully, he has an off game against us.”

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Manning and Texas have their sights set on a College Football playoff berth, and he has the weapons around him to make the run.

“He can absolutely rip it, like velocity, accuracy,” an SEC defensive coordinator said. “He got a little bit out of whack and made some mistakes, and then people were really defending him. It’s going to be really easy this year, because people are gonna have to double Cam Coleman. He’s a real one, and so is [Ryan] Wingo, so it’s like, you can’t double both of them.”

Not only is Cam Coleman already flashing amazing plays during practice, but the offense seems to be running better. That is due to the maturation of Manning, according to Steve Sarkisian.

“It was not an easy year,” Coach Sark said. “He grew up a lot, not only physically, but mentally, as the season went on. He was playing great football for us the second half of the season and at the end, and it so far has served as a great springboard. A lot of times, systematically, it’s the nuances, the changes of protections, the subtle hand signals of adjustment of a route, the knowing where your checkdowns are to get yourself out of trouble, not taking a sack, not taking an unnecessary hit, game management, special situations — third down, fourth down, red area — but it’s also leadership.”

Texas opens up its season as a top five-rated team, and will host Texas State on September 5, before hosting Ohio State the following week.

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Rival coach applauds Texas quarterback Arch Manning handling ‘unfair’ expectations

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