OTF Premium Going to call a spade a spade

[PaulieD]

23 hours ago, RN_surgery said:

Everything falls at the feet of Sark for me. He can’t make things easy for Arch. 
 

I hope we lose out and move on from Sark. 
 

 

I understand your frustration and respect your opinion (and your right to it) - but I believe that you and most fans are wrong.  Coach didn't throw the passes, and has addressed this already THIS SEASON with Arch.  Coach didn't cause the 'deer in the headlights' hesitancy that Arch had.  

[General Grant]

2 minutes ago, PaulieD said:

GG, spot-on on both counts.  I wish for him to finish out and find his destiny in the NFL.  I believe the situation with Coach being the OC has led to him having to be overly fixated on his QB instead of being the HC.  Once he's past this point in his psyche, and allows a OC to be hired that he can oversee as he wishes, he will be a wonderful coach.  We all have out chinks in our armor (mine's kinda falling apart), let's hope he works his out.  HookEm.

I don’t think he’ll hire an OC and I think it will be his downfall 

[PaulieD]

Just now, General Grant said:

I don’t think he’ll hire an OC and I think it will be his downfall 

it's been said before, by yours truly.  I sincerely hope that we are both way off base.

[PaulieD]

23 hours ago, Cozer said:

Wanting to lose the rest of the games is ridiculous. Also, who do we get that is “better” than Sark? At some point the fan base can’t assume that money whipping is an option, and there are not a bunch of available options out there. 

mic drop.

Firing the coach is the easy open for most of us mentally.  

[PaulieD]

22 hours ago, RN_surgery said:

So you would rather keep the same thing going? 

Ask Aggie if changing coaches worked out well for them.

[AusMOJO]

Watching the all 22 (only Arch's plays) it seems the issue is with the route choices. A lot of it is going way down field or sitting on the side line. 

Nothing is really open and there doesn't seem to be someone to check down to on most plays. The OL actually held up fairly well in pass protection and gave Arch time to throw. But what you notice is not many people open or they still have their backs to him as the plays are breaking down.

Even on the ones where he's under duress most of the time the guys all have their backs turned and there's no where to go with it. Hence him hesitating a lot.

Doesn't excuse his poor awareness at times or sailing passes but I think Sark needs to look at that and reevaluate. 

[PaulieD]

22 hours ago, JMarquette said:

Eric Morris lost to Tulsa and Dan Lanning eliminated himself from playoff contention yesterday. Are you a moron?

LMAO.

Not a moron, just a bitterly disappointed fan.  How many of us have changed jobs in anger thinking the grass is greener on the other side of the septic tank?  It's human nature.  

I myself, being older than the Rockies, have figured out that flush and repeat does not equate to a finished product.  Allow coaches to coach, players to learn, and hope for the best.🤣🤘

[PaulieD]

22 hours ago, Oldest Horn said:

For now, yes. People get far too emotional after big wins and losses. I’ll leave it to CDC to figure out. 

See my comment later, OH.  One of the few things that are great about being ancient.  Seen most all of it before.  HookEm.

[HookemFromOkc]

18 hours ago, mmdaytontexas said:

I agree. This is the problem.

Sark needs to fire himself as OC, his QB coach, his OL coach, and his TE/OT. Clean house.

Be the HC. Hire a top-5 OC and QB whisperer and let him help you pick your OL coach and TE coach. You have a really good RB and WR coach, so keep them, but clean house everywhere else on the offensive staff. They ain't getting it done.

Don't be Fred Akers or Mack Brown and get yourself fired because you wait too long to make a changes.

Do you expect him go do this mid- season?

 

This is year 6...Flood should have already been gone. Our OLine has been questionable since Kelvin Banks left. 

[thatdude2]

11 hours ago, Gerry Hamilton said:

You don't have to be a QB instructor for a person to know what they are talking about. 

Ball should never have been thrown. It's not processing in real time fastest enough for Arch at this point. That is reality. And the other reality is he may just end up lacking innate feel and athletic instincts at the highest level of some others that shows up in situational awareness and under duress in key moments. 

The plays were made early in the season to let anyone with working eyes that has been around the game their whole life. Read what I wrote, and go back and watch the games again. It's all right there. 

So Arch sucks, Sark sucks, and there is no reason to watch or follow this team?

[Mark Futrell]

Great Stuff Gerry! Spot On!!! Absolutely Spot On! And what is crazy is the fact that today there is a green dot allowing the Coach to communicate with the QB up until 15 seconds on the play clock and we still struggle. Can you imagine Manning playing 5 years ago without any communication?

[Mark Futrell]

9 hours ago, General Grant said:

I don’t think he’ll hire an OC and I think it will be his downfall 

Reminds me of the conversation that Florida had with Billy Napier last year. They told him he was struggling as a play caller. Napier with his ego and arrogance said: Im the play caller. Im not hiring anyone. It wasn't long after the fact that nothing had changed the Florida was forced to make a change. it is unfortunate.

[Rillo HOOK EM]

On 10/11/2026 at 8:27 AM, Gerry Hamilton said:

Going to call a spade a spade 

This is a post I didn't want to have to make. I'm a big fan of Arch Manning. Have been since seeing him for the first time in high school. He's a very hard worker. He carries himself the correct way. He cares. He's a very "good guy," just like he says he wants to be. That's what has been drilled into him by his family, and the family is great. I love his sense of humor, and he carries himself really well in a true fishbowl of life he will forever live in. I'm happy he's a Texas Longhorn. His commitment to Texas was and remains massive for the University of Texas. I've said before many times on the YouTube channel he's the first high school athlete that I've seen built up and broken down, as that is normally saved for pro athletes and a select few in college. Being Arch Manning comes with a lot of good to great, and some the exact opposite. He's certainly not going to be treated by the media in a click bait world like the normal athlete. It is what it is, and it's not easy for an 18-22-year-old figuring out life just wanting to be a college "kid" while developing his craft. It was going to be that way for Arch at any blue blood he signed with.

With that said, I feel strongly that 20 starts and five games into the season with the fourth quarter vs. Oklahoma less than 24 hours removed is the time to address what has to happen moving forward for Manning. 

I thought back during the fourth quarter and after the game to the season opener vs. Texas State with 16 seconds remaining in the first half with Texas up 28-7. Texas was coming out of a timeout with the ball on the Texas State 10-yard line. I remember thinking (maybe saying on the Watch With Us) do not force a throw here. Even though the game wasn't in doubt, make the smart or correct quarterback play to end the half. Value points, value momentum, value the football. It all matters later in a season when games are on the line. Every play when a decision has to be made at the QB position is key part of development. Every single one. After an incompletion, Arch forced a throw over the middle into triple coverage that ended in a really bad interception. Did it hurt Texas in terms of winning or losing the game vs an inferior opponent? Of course not. Was it a really bad QB decision? Absolutely. Arch said it after the game and on Monday. I remember saying on the Watch With Us that needs to be the worst pass/decision Arch makes all season. Because anything close to that recurring would likely be a lot more meaningful in SEC play. 

Arch had some bad QB luck vs. Ohio State in the first half. He made two tremendous throws that were dropped - Cam Coleman and Ryan Wingo. Two should have been TDs (or eventual TD with Coleman). He had a wonderful QB moment in the fourth quarter rally and victory over a very good Ohio State team. In order to be real, it's also very important to be fair. 

The first drive vs UTSA was solid. He got off to a quality start. There was seemingly progression in decision making vs Ohio State and UTSA. After taking the self inflicted big hit, that game changed. Around a number of errant throws in that game (and before the hit) was the illegal forward pass with 13:56 remaining in the third quarter. It happens for all quarterbacks, and has throughout the history of the game. 

Fast forward to the Tennessee game. I've never seen two illegal forward passes by the same quarterback in a game. Never. I'm sure it has happened, but my eyes weren't on the TV or in person for a game in history it happened. And I've certainly never seen three in two games, or an illegal forward pass by the same QB in back-to-back games. Again, it's probably happened somewhere in the history of the game, but my 51-year-old eyes have never seen it. 

To do that three times in two games, and back-to-back games, is truly head scratching plays at the QB position. 

Around all that there were plays in each game where Arch was outside the tackle box and ate the ball taking an unneeded sack vs throwing the ball away. Similar to the end of the half vs. Texas State, those decisions don't hurt a team when you are winning, but one should clearly put those away in the memory bank if the decision-making returns in game deciding situations or games. 

Well, the fourth quarter of the Oklahoma game happened less than 24 hours ago. The pick-six pass can't be made, period. Under duress, Arch did a good job keeping the play alive, but what happened next just can't happen at the QB position. At some point in a quarterback's development, one has to register in the moment when the play calls for innate feel, instincts or extremely quick processing to throw the damn ball away. Not taking a sack in a meaningless game and throwing the ball away reps mattered earlier in the season. Sadly, the INT into triple coverage to the end the half vs. Texas State did not remain the worst pass thrown all season. I'm not going to break down the entire why the decision/throw was horrible, because it doesn't even need to be broken down. The ball wasn't valued. The moment wasn't valued. The situation wasn't valued. It wasn't processed in real time by a QB. 

Then there was the second INT. The reaction to the blitz was a forced throw again. It was a tough spot, but Manning had time to throw an uncatchable ball to the Texas coaches standing along the sideline. And this isn't a nitpick, as one can look at many scenarios in which a QB makes the correct throw away under duress with the game on the line. 

So where is Arch Manning at through five games this season, and 20 starts into his college career? In my opinion, he's now at the most important part of his career and development to date. Some really bad quarterback decisions in meaningless games early in the season became major in a rivalry game against a struggling team. A game that was given away by the Texas special teams, offense and quarterback. 

The head scratcher plays have to begin to cease. If we are still talking about them continuing to happen in November, there is a bigger problem that will have to be addressed. The plays in which one is forced to question innate feel and instincts for the position need to be in the rearview mirror, starting Saturday vs. Florida. The growth in game in split second decision making has to happen October 17. Period. 

The reality is Texas is going to score more points, make more explosive plays in the passing game and "look" better on offense the next three games in October. Texas isn't facing Matt Patricia, Jim Knowles and Brent Venables defenses and overall personnel level the next three games. But that doesn't mean Texas has suddenly improved or "found it" offensively. That doesn't mean Arch Manning has figured it out. This isn't about stats. This is about in-game decision making, and seeing the correct growth. 

Time is no longer on Arch Manning's side, and on Texas' side. Growth has to be easily seen. The time is now. I'm rooting for Arch, as I always have been. The fishbowl and pressure of being a Manning following in massive footsteps is real. That will always be acknowledged when I speak about Arch. At the same time, he's in a position in which major and career arc changing growth at the position has to begin today. There is no other option after five games this season. I'm not expecting perfection, as that is not the real world. I am expecting key growth to begin now. It simply has to for Arch, and the Texas Longhorns 2026 season. 

 

I just don’t think he “sees the Field” at all. Whether it’s recognizing the blitz pre snap or being able to “throw people open” He just seems to never feel truly comfortable in processing whats in front of him. I’m not sure you can coach that. I’m not sure if it’s because he didn’t see many complex defenses in high school or what. But it’s pretty obvious Sark isn’t letting him or he doesn’t have the ability to change things at the line. I believe Sark is running his offense with a hand tied behind his back, but at the end of the day it’s on him to do something about it.