Texas fans are buzzing about potential Arch Manning involvement vs. Georgia

Texas is preparing for its first SEC Championship game — in its first year in the conference — and the Longhorns might have some different tools to throw at Georgia this time.

The last time we saw Texas and Georgia match up on a football field, the Bulldogs took care of business and handily defeated the Longhorns in Austin, 30-15, delivering what would be Texas's only loss of the regular season.

When asked about whether the team might open the playbook more and involve backup QB Arch Manning, Sarkisian didn’t hold back.

“We might,” he said with a smile via On3 sports. “I don’t know. I would say, no, we haven’t fully opened our playbook because as a staff we sit around and think about our roster, our team, what we’re good at, and what we can improve. We’re gonna run stuff Saturday that we haven’t run all year.”

It’s clear that Sarkisian and his staff are always looking to push the envelope. Manning has already made his presence felt this season, stepping in for Quinn Ewers during injury setbacks and handling specific situations, such as quarterback-run plays.

“We threw Arch in here on a couple of opportunities in the high red zone to get into some quarterback run stuff. We’re constantly trying to evolve," Sarkisian said.

Texas needs a jolt offensively. While the Longhorns have been about as close to elite as you could ask on the defensive side of the ball this season — perhaps with the Georgia game being the one outlier — they've left much to be desired on the offensive end.

Even this past weekend, Texas mustered just 17 points on its in-state rival Texas A&M, including a scoreless second half.

“There’s always things that we’re gonna do that are new. The beauty of these guys, offensively, is that they really accept that stuff.”

Texas and Georgia will kickoff at 4:00 p.m. E.T. on ABC/ESPN+. As always, the SEC Championship game is played in Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta.

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