Arch's career so far at Texas

[Dread-headed Texan]

Was the expectations of Arch coming into the season a bit too lofty? Ummm, yea! Was his start to the season a little slow? You bet it was. With that said let's look at what he's done so far and why I'm not concerned, or haven't been concerned, and excited going forward. So far Arch in his first five starts excluding SHS, is 4-1 with 15 passing TDs, 1550 yards, 5 ints, and 7 rushing touchdowns. Not bad for a guy who if his name was Arch Jackson would be a 3 star. I don't believe Arch will be a three year starter at Texas, but with what he's done so far, and with usually the biggest jump is from year one starter to year two starter, I'm extremely bullish. Think of the jump Quinn made. With the defense Texas has right now, Arch being a distributor is enough to get the job done. Sure he had some things to clean up, more defenses to decipher, and become more accurate in terms of ball placement. However, it hasn't been all bad. We've seen some big time throws, we've seen him stare down the barrel of a blitz take a hit and deliver a dime, we've seen the down feild accuracy, escaping ability, and yes arm talent. When not if Arch starts to dictate how defenses defend him and make them pay for over aggression, Texas will be in a great place. Let's just hope we get there later this year and we don't have to wait until next year. 🤣 and yes, I'm up at 0500 rewatching SHS, specifically Arch because sleep said not today, that ain't what we wanna do🤘🏿

[AusMOJO]

I'm thinking about what this offense could be capable of next year. Only spot you really need to replace guys is on the OL. QB, WR and TE should all be extremely set. RB could be a ? if you can find a difference maker. OL there is some talent there with Cruz, Kibble and Brooks going to be fighting for snaps and Cojoe when he comes back.

If he really has turned a corner (Arch) then I think this team is going to be very hard to stop. We'll see though. 

[Dread-headed Texan]

3 minutes ago, AusMOJO said:

I'm thinking about what this offense could be capable of next year. Only spot you really need to replace guys is on the OL. QB, WR and TE should all be extremely set. RB could be a ? if you can find a difference maker. OL there is some talent there with Cruz, Kibble and Brooks going to be fighting for snaps and Cojoe when he comes back.

If he really has turned a corner (Arch) then I think this team is going to be very hard to stop. We'll see though. 

I like the O-line for next year. I think if Trevor goes pro, we move Baker to LT, and Brooks starts RT, I'm a big Cruz fan, of course either Neto needs to play with more consistency or Stroh with better balance, LG is my biggest question. As far as running back I like Clark and Simon. Not really sure what to expect from Gibson. Because sometimes he does, but more often he doesn't. The trio of Parker. Wingo, and Moseley should be great. The TE room is so versatile they can thumb wrestle to see who gets what play and Texas will still be good there. 

[Kevin C]

Setting up to be a great multi-year career for Arch as starter on the 40-acres.   Slow start blessing in disguise, imho.   Growth through early adversity.   Team has his back.   Media expectations lowered.   Everyone now appreciates he’s human.   Arrow pointing up.   Stage is set for 2yr magical run, including a more bumps, bruises, adversity, growth along the way. 
 

Hook em!! 🧡🤘🏼🐂

Edited 20 hours ago by Kevin C

[Dread-headed Texan]

2 minutes ago, Kevin C said:

Setting up to be a great multi-year career for Arch as starter on the 40-acres.   Slow start blessing in disguise, imho.   Growth through early adversity.   Team has his back.   Media expectations lowered.   Everyone now appreciates he’s human.   Arrow pointing up.   Stage is set for 2yr magical run, including a few more bumps, bruises, adversity, growth along the way. 
 

Hook em!! 🧡🤘🏼🐂

As long as Arch don't have the kind of ups and downs to make me pull out my locs one strand at a time I'm good. So far he aint doing my liver any favors, so I'm going to need him to get right sooner than later🙏🏿🤣

[Connor Vaughn]

OTF crew unanimously agreed before this season that 2026 has the far better chance than 2025 and mostly because of having a first year starting QB with a new OL. Credit the OGs, yall 😎

[AusMOJO]

1 hour ago, Dread-headed Texan said:

I like the O-line for next year. I think if Trevor goes pro, we move Baker to LT, and Brooks starts RT, I'm a big Cruz fan, of course either Neto needs to play with more consistency or Stroh with better balance, LG is my biggest question. As far as running back I like Clark and Simon. Not really sure what to expect from Gibson. Because sometimes he does, but more often he doesn't. The trio of Parker. Wingo, and Moseley should be great. The TE room is so versatile they can thumb wrestle to see who gets what play and Texas will still be good there. 

I don't think Goosby is going pro, if he's smart he'll start two years at Texas before testing the NFL. I think you could have an OL of LT-Goosby, LG - Brooks, C-Cruz, RG - Kibble, RT -Baker. I saw Brooks and Kibble getting some crazy push on that right side together, I know it's Sam Hosuton State and late in the game but those guys were moving dudes. We'll see what happens and how this season plays out. Right now I'm just spit balling because I'm bored lol.

You'll also have some really good Fr from this class trying to work their way into some snaps. A good group of incoming FR WR's. My only concern at RB is we don't seem to have a guy with x-factor. I don't think (so far) Gibson or Clark bring that. Simon, maybe? Depends on what Baxter and Wisner do, tbh. 

TE with a trio of Washington, Wintson and Townsend is just nuts to think about. 

I'd be curious to see what they go for in the portal to supplement that team. 

[Roysterr]

7 hours ago, Dread-headed Texan said:

I like the O-line for next year. I think if Trevor goes pro, we move Baker to LT, and Brooks starts RT, I'm a big Cruz fan, of course either Neto needs to play with more consistency or Stroh with better balance, LG is my biggest question. As far as running back I like Clark and Simon. Not really sure what to expect from Gibson. Because sometimes he does, but more often he doesn't. The trio of Parker. Wingo, and Moseley should be great. The TE room is so versatile they can thumb wrestle to see who gets what play and Texas will still be good there. 

Our next year's true freshman RB will have a huge impact on our running game

[LonghornFan4Ever]

6 minutes ago, Roysterr said:

Our next year's true freshman RB will have a huge impact on our running game

I could see that, but I still think Texas should get one more RB in the portal.  Gibson, Clark, Stewart, Cooper, Simon, and a portal RB would give you a strong six deep for next season.  Grab a backup QB, WR, and a couple of OL and the offense will be nice.

Edited 13 hours ago by LonghornFan4Ever

[Steamboat Willie]

Patience is key with Arch—he’s not supposed to be perfect right now. There have been some bumps, but the flashes of talent show exactly why the hype is real. He doesn’t need to carry the team on his back yet; he just needs to keep stacking reps, cleaning up the little things, and letting the game slow down. Once that happens, we’re going to see a whole new level from him.

[smokeyiii]

The UTEP games was by far the most concerning. It was really unexplainable. Could we have beat OSU with a above average but not great performance? Yes. But that was a really tough environment for your first road start. I hope he puts on more performances like we saw Saturday while never again seeing the lows of UTEP.

[drag worm]

Six starts and 5-1 no? 

[hookem1014]

The expectations were always absurd. When has a first year starting QB been the preseason heisman favorite?

On top of that the folks at ESPN and Fox make a killing hyping him up. If he plays well they have something to talk about..if he struggles they have even more to say. 

Sure he may not have lived up to the realistic expectations so far but we still have a long season left. I’ll be very happy if he plays well against a Florida or OU defense. 

[Sundancekid]

If his name was not Manning he still would have been a four star at least. No way to prove it but his talent is undeniable in my eyes. Quite a chip on one’s shoulders as you navigate climbing to the top… being an heir Manning.

[Bunk Moreland]

Also, I keep saying it but we all collectively need to stop judging Arch as a college football player. The time to do that will be the end of 2026, when he’s had two full years as a starter to develop. Trying to evaluate a young player week to week is short-sighted, and yet that is precisely what the national pundits (and many Texas fans) are doing with Arch. What we should be doing is looking for an upward trend. I think we will know a lot more (but not everything) about who Arch is as a player by the end of this season. In the meantime, is he showing us SOMETHING every single week? Is he improving at the little things, like footwork and mechanics and how he responds to adversity? If the answer is yes, then I don’t care if he completes 55% of his passes and throws an INT in any given game—is he getting cumulatively better?

[harveycmd]

Expected Arch to play well early this season but wasn't shocked when he didn't because I also expected some ups and downs. The national media circus exists because it makes money. What is more surprising to me is the fanbase and Longhorn media. We're only talking a couple of games. There could be more problems as Arch learns and figures things out, but he's going to be an outstanding college QB. We've already seen it. 

[Dread-headed Texan]

3 hours ago, drag worm said:

Six starts and 5-1 no? 

I excluded last week's game.