One of the biggest stories in College Football the past few seasons has been the fact that Arch Manning is a member of the Texas Longhorns. Fans around the Country have been begging Steve Sarkisian to deploy Manning, especially last season when it was clear that Quinn Ewers' injury was hampering his ability to run the offense.
Heading into this season, the hype for Arch Manning has been off the charts as analysts have predicted he'd win the Heisman Trophy, Texas would win the National Championship, and that Manning would be the first overall pick in the NFL Draft. The first half of Arch Manning's 2025 campaign tells a completely different story.
The Arch Manning hype was clearly overblown
In Arch Manning's first half as the Longhorns' full-time starter, the results proved that everyone clearly got carried away with crowning Manning as one of the best quarterbacks in the Country. The Longhorns failed to score in the first half as the offense looked miserable in part due to the play by Manning.
The Longhorns' starter went just 5-10 passing for 26 yards while rushing for just 13 yards on 5 carries. In an offense like Steve Sarkisian's, seeing just over 5 yards per completion and only 2.6 yards per attempt is far below what you'd expect even in a bad half for the offense.
All of the blame shouldn't land on Arch Manning as at times his younger group of receivers have been absolutely blanketed by the Ohio State Buckeyes. The Longhorns offensive line is also breaking in a ton of new pieces which is always going to be a challenge in a game against a loaded opponent like Ohio State.
If Arch Manning is truly one of the best quarterbacks in the sport, Texas is going to need him to prove it in the second half of this game.
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