Texas left the field yesterday with a win against the University of Texas at El Paso, but it didn’t come without the team continuously shooting itself in the foot. The score was kept to a safe 27-10, thanks in large part to the Longhorn defense containing the Miners until a last-minute, fourth-quarter drive into the endzone.
The offense, however, left much to be desired — especially the pass game. Redshirt sophomore quarterback Arch Manning still hasn’t worked out the growing pains, which is evident in the grimace he makes when releasing the ball. Both head coach Steve Sarkisian and Manning himself have made it clear that he’s not injured, yet it’s still clear from photos that his eyes are nearly completely closed when he throws.
From what Sarkisian is saying, it’s not necessarily a physical issue with Manning. It’s completely mental, which is a much tougher battle to face than an impromptu shoulder injury.
“It’s all mental, quite frankly, right?” Sarkisian said postgame. “When you really think about the physical ability to make throws, and now it’s trust, belief, confidence, all those things, right? And his ability to move on to the next play is something that we’ve got to continue to work on, and not harbor the last plays and the last plays and the last plays, and have the ability to refocus, recalibrate and focus on the next play.”
And from what Manning is saying, the outside pressure isn’t as much as the pressure that he’s putting on himself. The 21-year-old isn’t looking at social media or the mock 2026 NFL Draft. It’s all an internal battle — and with a name like that, how could it not be?
“I’m just frustrated,” Manning said postgame. “I know I’m better than this. It’s a little frustrating. It’s gonna be hard to sleep tonight, but I’ll be back rolling.”
The fact is that, right now, Manning isn’t showing up in all the places he needs to be. This isn’t discounting the rest of his performance yesterday. Onlookers finally got a glimpse of his legs and athleticism, watching him run the ball into the endzone for two touchdowns and 51 rushing yards.
But the point of having a dual-threat quarterback, as Manning has been touted since his middle school days, is to have ample talent in both the run and pass game. Right now, Manning isn’t in rhythm with himself, with his line or with his receivers.
“He plays better when he’s in more rhythm. … And I think that’s when he’s at his best, and that’s our job to find that rhythm in him,” Sarkisian said.
Manning threw for just 11 completions on 25 attempts, with a single passing touchdown and a pick, all for a grand total of 114 passing yards. It’s not a reach to say that Miners redshirt sophomore quarterback Malachi Nelson outperformed him on Saturday, with 209 yards and 24 completions for 36 attempts.
Other elements of the Longhorns’ game also need a serious look. Penalties still need to be cleaned up in all three phases of the game and the absence of running backs junior Quintrevion Wisner and sophomore CJ Baxter didn’t help to take pressure off the vertical threat. All of these areas detract from the game scheme and throw extra pressure onto adjusting to the unplanned.
“Now he’s in the fire. Now we’ve got to make these adjustments in real time. And like I said, that’s kind of the fun part of it all, that we have something to work on,” Sarkisian said. “We know what it is, it’s tangible, and we can get it done. We’ve been down this road before, and like I said, we’ve righted the ship before.”
But right now, all eyes are on Manning.
