Steve Sarkisian says he learned a strategy tweak that’s needed in how to handle Arch Manning.
After Arch Manning struggles against Ohio State, Texas coach says expectations for quarterback were ‘out of control.’
Are days of undefeated national champs in the past? Texas left to hope so.
COLUMBUS, Ohio – Steve Sarkisian admitted to a strategic misstep. He should have run Arch Manning more in the first half. Absorbing a hit or two in the run game could have allowed Texas’ dual-threat quarterback to settle in against Ohio State.
“We’re learning a little better formula for him,” Sarkisian said of Manning after No. 1 Texas lost, 14-7, to No. 2 Ohio State in a game in which the Texas quarterback failed to find a rhythm.
Sarkisian got something else wrong, too, when he said “expectations were out of control, on the outside” for Manning.
Out of control? Really? Fair play to Sarkisian for having Manning’s back, but that quote sounds like just the type of thing a losing coach would say after his quarterback spent the afternoon misfiring.
We’re talking about the grandson of Archie Manning, a Southern icon, and the nephew of fellow greats Peyton and Eli. We’re talking about a former five-star recruit whom Nick Saban, Kirby Smart, Lane Kiffin and plenty of coaches in between coveted. We’re talking about a quarterback who enjoys an enviable complement of supporting talent within a program funded by an impressive NIL war chest.
True, a television pundit or two got carried away while pressing the throttle down on the Manning hype train, but I hardly think it’s “out of control” to expect that Manning play up to his surname or his recruiting ranking or his NIL paycheck. He did neither against Ohio State, and Sarkisian’s correct that his game plan should have embraced Manning’s speed and leaned on his legs more when his arm betrayed him.
“I’ve got to let him go play,” Sarkisian said.
There’s plenty of season left to play, too, so although Sarkisian’s off base about the expectations being outsized – they were Manning sized, not inappropriately sized – he’s right about this much: “Let’s finish the book before we judge him,” Sarkisian said. “This is one chapter.”
An inauspicious start, though. No denying that. Manning didn’t try to.
“Ultimately, not good enough,” he said. “It starts with me. … I’ve got to play better for us to win.”
Silver linings for Texas, but not at quarterback
Don’t blame the Texas defense. That unit played well enough that I cannot discount the possibility of Texas, as Sarkisian put it, facing Ohio State again in December or January.
Don’t blame a young offensive line, either, or a run game that supplied Texas with 166 yards. This result falls on Manning being unable to find a groove.
And, still, Texas was driving inside Ohio State territory in the final two minutes with a chance to tie a road game against the defending national champions.
Which is to say, not all hope is lost, for either Texas or its quarterback.
Texas went 1 for 5 on fourth-down opportunities. Manning got stuffed on a fourth-down sneak from the 1-yard line. If a few fourth downs go the other way …
Shoulda, woulda, coulda is a loser’s chorus, but the game also showed Texas isn’t a lost cause. It’s unproven, though, just how great of an asset it possesses at quarterback, even if Manning did have to go against a secondary that Sarkisian aptly described as elite.
Is this as bad as Arch Manning will play? ‘I sure hope so.’
Remember, the defending national champions lost not once but twice last season.
“I think the days of a national champion being undefeated are over, especially when you play in games like this, and you play in the conference we play in,” Sarkisian said.
He’s left to hope he’s right about his theory on undefeated champs going the way of the fullback run game into the history books.
Manning said he didn’t feel rattled in his first career road start, but he fooled me on that. He bounced his first pass a few yards short of his target. He sailed a few other throws high or off the mark. He didn’t seem to totally trust himself on a feeble third-quarter throw that became easy bait for an interception. Manning’s lack of downfield strikes until Ohio State had a two-touchdown lead were concerning.
By the time Manning’s final pass came up short of the first-down marker, those “out of control” expectations had altered course.
He’s no longer oddsmakers’ Heisman Trophy frontrunner. Never mind that Heismans are won in November and December, and not lost in August. Texas’ national championship odds took a hit, too.
This cannot be the best Manning will play.
Was this as bad as he’ll play this season?
“I sure hope so,” Manning said. “I do think so.”
That’s the expectation, anyway.
Blake Toppmeyer is the USA TODAY Network’s senior national college football columnist. Email him at BToppmeyer@gannett.com and follow him on X @btoppmeyer.