USA Today: Arch Manning is just ... average? That's how he looks for Texas

[Blake Munroe]

Just a tad early for the overreactions, but hey.. here we are!

From USA Today:

Arch Manning amassed good stats in Texas' rout of San Jose State, but he was far from flawless.

What if Arch Manning doesn’t stink? And, what if he’s not some blend of Tim Tebow meets Joe Burrow?

What if he’s just … average? Maybe, a notch above average, especially when he’s not facing Ohio State.

I know, I know, when evaluating Manning, it’s a spicy-takes-only zone.

I’m at risk of a committing party foul, because there’s nothing especially spicy about calling a first-year starting quarterback average.

Based on what we’ve seen of Manning through two starts this season, though, it’s the appropriate evaluation.

If you believed everything you read on social media, then Manning was either awesome or awful against San Jose State.

He was neither. He was sufficient, while starting in front of a home crowd against an overmatched opponent.

No wonder Archie Manning predicted his grandson wouldn’t declare for the NFL draft after this season. Nothing we’ve seen suggests he’s ready for "Monday Night Football." Nothing we’ve seen suggests Steve Sarkisian erred by starting Quinn Ewers the past two seasons, either.

Manning made some nice tosses in Texas’ 38-7 rout of San Jose State. Say this for him: He can throw a wheel route. Any SEC quarterback should be able to carve up an opponent of this caliber, and, after a rocky start, Manning did. He also threw an interception in the red zone when he forced a pass into double coverage, and Texas punted six times while he was in the game.

Just as he did against Ohio State, he looked better the longer the game went. He threw four touchdown passes, and Sarkisian kept playing him in a blowout deep into the fourth quarter, giving Manning’s stats time to marinate.

If you wagered your mortgage payment on Manning winning the Heisman Trophy, you’re probably feeling squeamish. This performance did not harken memories of uncle Peyton lighting up Kentucky for more than 500 yards. Didn’t evoke comparisons to Vince Young, either. Also didn’t elicit memories of Garrett Gilbert, a former five-star bust at Texas.

This performance ranked as something in between Young and Gilbert. Not spicy. Not bad, either.

Manning interspersed good throws with bad ones. He made a good read on a run-pass option for a touchdown to Parker Livingstone, who’s emerged as a favorite target. He grimaced while bouncing a throw at the feet of an open Ryan Wingo. He airmailed a deep ball early in the first quarter, which came closer to an interception than a completion. He showed speed and jukes that Peyton and Eli would envy on a weaving scramble into the end zone. Manning’s passing mechanics need polish. His athleticism as a runner remains an asset.

He proved effective, but far from flawless.

The good news for Texas? Led by its talented defense, Texas can win a lot of games with a solid, imperfect quarterback. But, the Longhorns will need a quarterback to win a national championship. Manning hasn't looked championship ready. Maybe, he’ll get there.

Manning will close September with two more games against Group of Five opponents. That’s groundwork for more stat-padding and blazing takes.

"Sloppy," Manning said of his performance against San Jose State.

Spicy! Like a lot of opinions about Manning, though, he overstated it.

Sometimes, a guy’s just average, no matter his surname.

[Blake Munroe]

Link to article:

https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/ncaaf/2025/09/07/arch-manning-stats-average-texas/85928100007/

[Dread-headed Texan]

Nope 🤣 we are enamored with ourselves and don't listen to outside noise. We are the University of Texas, not the University of USA Today. Their opinion doesn't matter. 

[Joe Zura]

Clickbait Munroe strikes again 

[A-10HORN]

I think average is a fair take right now 

 

some good, some bad. 
 

I’ve yet to see him really make a layered throw with one exception

[Oldest Horn]

Cool. Hopefully the Heisman and first pick in the 26 draft noise stops too. 

[Bunk Moreland]

This conversation is so pointless and ignorant. An appropriate comparison for Arch isn’t Joe Burrow from 2019 or the NFL—it’s 2018 Joe Burrow. That’s first-year starter, third-year Joe Burrow. It’s 58% completion, 16 TDs, and 133 PER Joe Burrow. 133 PER is bad. But we don’t judge Joe Burrow by those full-season stats because he wasn’t fully developed yet! We really can’t judge Arch until the end of 2026, which follows his development curve. These overreactions just make no sense whatsoever.

[tsip92]

Good Lord.  When the writer admits it’s a stupid take in the first two paragraphs of the article you know it’s trash.  I stopped there.  
 

Yes, Arch is average right now.  Why it’s worthy of this drivel I have no idea.  

[Jordan91]

When he says Archie’s grandfather, he loses all credibility. He’s making it personal at that point. Has virtually no idea what his grandfather meant. He should just say I think he’s average. 

[horns96]

Old enough to remember VY getting benched at home against Texas Tech his first year of starting.  

[NCHorn]

Seems to me that expecting Arch to contend for a Heisman or not have a learning curve after sitting the bench for two years (other than a couple of off schedule starts) is an over-reach.

Personally, I think he will be fine and grow week over week.  Could be an 8-4 season, could be better and make the playoffs again.  Glad he is a Longhorn, no hesitation in my optimism.

Hook 'e,

[thatdude2]

Manning will prove to be THAT dude

[CoachBobbyFinstock]

Dumb article considering he played better yesterday and had good stats.

Now if you want to criticize the Oline, penalties, or relative weak play at WR have at it.

Edited 17 hours ago by CoachBobbyFinstock

[NothinButDaHorns34]

The expectations got so beyond ridiculous during the summer. Gerry was beyond right now the tear downs happening. I’m glad i laughed at shi* like heisman and first overall pick in 2026. 

[harveycmd]

Be interesting to note what these guys say when he's lighting it up consistently by mid season. My guess is shameless reversal. 

On the rewatch I thought I'd find stuff to criticize Wingo for. Not really too much. He had the drop, but he had a block that sprung Livingstone on the long TD. Hard to tell how he looked on his routes without the all 22. It seems that he and Arch are just having a hard time syncing up. Can't necessarily blame that on Wingo without knowing more about the routes, targets, etc.

[Here for the Wins]

6 minutes ago, harveycmd said:

Be interesting to note what these guys say when he's lighting it up consistently by mid season. My guess is shameless reversal. 

On the rewatch I thought I'd find stuff to criticize Wingo for. Not really too much. He had the drop, but he had a block that sprung Livingstone on the long TD. Hard to tell how he looked on his routes without the all 22. It seems that he and Arch are just having a hard time syncing up. Can't necessarily blame that on Wingo without knowing more about the routes, targets, etc.

The first deep ball was an absolute terrible job on Wingo’s part.  On the ball short of him, no effort to get it.  That part was poor.  Look at the route again on that play.  It doesn’t appear to be good.  On the drop, his hands were like a 10 -year old.  Not the dropping it part but how he attempted to catch it.

[harveycmd]

1 minute ago, Here for the Wins said:

The first deep ball was an absolute terrible job on Wingo’s part.  On the ball short of him, no effort to get it.  That part was poor.  Look at the route again on that play.  It doesn’t appear to be good.  On the drop, his hands were like a 10 -year old.  Not the dropping it part but how he attempted to catch it.

I didn't notice the no effort part. I did initially think he simply failed to adjust on the deep ball, but then I thought maybe he was running to a landmark and didn't realize until too late that he needed to adjust. It's true that either way you need to adjust, but without knowing more, I'm not ready to flat out criticize. When Sark was talking about how he thinks Simmons is maybe trying too hard, he said the same thing about Wingo. I think if Wingo was simply failing to play hard, Sark would've probably just stayed silent. I don't know. Like to give Wingo a few more games to work it out before putting too much into it.

[Dread-headed Texan]

53 minutes ago, harveycmd said:

Be interesting to note what these guys say when he's lighting it up consistently by mid season. My guess is shameless reversal. 

On the rewatch I thought I'd find stuff to criticize Wingo for. Not really too much. He had the drop, but he had a block that sprung Livingstone on the long TD. Hard to tell how he looked on his routes without the all 22. It seems that he and Arch are just having a hard time syncing up. Can't necessarily blame that on Wingo without knowing more about the routes, targets, etc.

Arch didn't have these problems last year because obviously the receivers were better. There just isn't anyone outside of Parker who is making plays for him. Everyone likes to speak the buzzword mechanics, but nobody sees the plays where there's a guy draped on him and he gives his guy a chance to make a play and because the pass isn't perfect they drop it. Looking at you Butler and Wingo. With the gloves these guys wear it's literally supposed to be if it touches your hands you're supposed to catch it. 

[harveycmd]

6 minutes ago, Dread-headed Texan said:

Arch didn't have these problems last year because obviously the receivers were better. There just isn't anyone outside of Parker who is making plays for him. Everyone likes to speak the buzzword mechanics, but nobody sees the plays where there's a guy draped on him and he gives his guy a chance to make a play and because the pass isn't perfect they drop it. Looking at you Butler and Wingo. With the gloves these guys wear it's literally supposed to be if it touches your hands you're supposed to catch it. 

Many of Arch's big plays last year were to Wingo and Moore, but I think your point is valid. Wingo and Moore are being covered differently now. Wingo is consistently doubled, and defenses are looking to keep a safety over Moore deep. Moore made a couple of nice catches yesterday. Hopefully Coach Jackson can get these guys to do a better job of working leverage. If Livingstone keeps making big plays, defenses won't be able to stop everything. 

[Here for the Wins]

2 hours ago, harveycmd said:

I didn't notice the no effort part. I did initially think he simply failed to adjust on the deep ball, but then I thought maybe he was running to a landmark and didn't realize until too late that he needed to adjust. It's true that either way you need to adjust, but without knowing more, I'm not ready to flat out criticize. When Sark was talking about how he thinks Simmons is maybe trying too hard, he said the same thing about Wingo. I think if Wingo was simply failing to play hard, Sark would've probably just stayed silent. I don't know. Like to give Wingo a few more games to work it out before putting too much into it.

He’s running his routes hard generally speaking.  There were two balls, one in each game, in which I’d generally expect an effort to go down and get them.

That first deep ball he got bumped off the route pretty easily then couldn’t decide where to finish the route.

I do think there’s some acclimation ahead.  

[horns96]

3 hours ago, Here for the Wins said:

The first deep ball was an absolute terrible job on Wingo’s part.  On the ball short of him, no effort to get it.  That part was poor.  Look at the route again on that play.  It doesn’t appear to be good.  On the drop, his hands were like a 10 -year old.  Not the dropping it part but how he attempted to catch it.

All due respect, but we have no idea what "good routes" should look like these days.  A WR could be running to grass or reading safeties on some weird choice route.   CFB broadcasts rarely even include all the receivers on the field, much less the defensive backfields.

[Here for the Wins]

9 hours ago, horns96 said:

All due respect, but we have no idea what "good routes" should look like these days.  A WR could be running to grass or reading safeties on some weird choice route.   CFB broadcasts rarely even include all the receivers on the field, much less the defensive backfields.

To an extent I agree that we are limited but rounded routes in which a WR drifts or fades is not going to help a QB.

[Steamboat Willie]

if this is the criteria for average this year then 100% of the teams playing college football have average or below average QBs

20 hours ago, Blake Munroe said:

Just a tad early for the overreactions, but hey.. here we are!

From USA Today:

Arch Manning amassed good stats in Texas' rout of San Jose State, but he was far from flawless.

What if Arch Manning doesn’t stink? And, what if he’s not some blend of Tim Tebow meets Joe Burrow?

What if he’s just … average? Maybe, a notch above average, especially when he’s not facing Ohio State.

I know, I know, when evaluating Manning, it’s a spicy-takes-only zone.

I’m at risk of a committing party foul, because there’s nothing especially spicy about calling a first-year starting quarterback average.

Based on what we’ve seen of Manning through two starts this season, though, it’s the appropriate evaluation.

If you believed everything you read on social media, then Manning was either awesome or awful against San Jose State.

He was neither. He was sufficient, while starting in front of a home crowd against an overmatched opponent.

No wonder Archie Manning predicted his grandson wouldn’t declare for the NFL draft after this season. Nothing we’ve seen suggests he’s ready for "Monday Night Football." Nothing we’ve seen suggests Steve Sarkisian erred by starting Quinn Ewers the past two seasons, either.

Manning made some nice tosses in Texas’ 38-7 rout of San Jose State. Say this for him: He can throw a wheel route. Any SEC quarterback should be able to carve up an opponent of this caliber, and, after a rocky start, Manning did. He also threw an interception in the red zone when he forced a pass into double coverage, and Texas punted six times while he was in the game.

Just as he did against Ohio State, he looked better the longer the game went. He threw four touchdown passes, and Sarkisian kept playing him in a blowout deep into the fourth quarter, giving Manning’s stats time to marinate.

If you wagered your mortgage payment on Manning winning the Heisman Trophy, you’re probably feeling squeamish. This performance did not harken memories of uncle Peyton lighting up Kentucky for more than 500 yards. Didn’t evoke comparisons to Vince Young, either. Also didn’t elicit memories of Garrett Gilbert, a former five-star bust at Texas.

This performance ranked as something in between Young and Gilbert. Not spicy. Not bad, either.

Manning interspersed good throws with bad ones. He made a good read on a run-pass option for a touchdown to Parker Livingstone, who’s emerged as a favorite target. He grimaced while bouncing a throw at the feet of an open Ryan Wingo. He airmailed a deep ball early in the first quarter, which came closer to an interception than a completion. He showed speed and jukes that Peyton and Eli would envy on a weaving scramble into the end zone. Manning’s passing mechanics need polish. His athleticism as a runner remains an asset.

He proved effective, but far from flawless.

The good news for Texas? Led by its talented defense, Texas can win a lot of games with a solid, imperfect quarterback. But, the Longhorns will need a quarterback to win a national championship. Manning hasn't looked championship ready. Maybe, he’ll get there.

Manning will close September with two more games against Group of Five opponents. That’s groundwork for more stat-padding and blazing takes.

"Sloppy," Manning said of his performance against San Jose State.

Spicy! Like a lot of opinions about Manning, though, he overstated it.

Sometimes, a guy’s just average, no matter his surname.