Texas Longhorns quarterback Arch Manning entered the season with an unbelievable amount of hype despite having never served as a full-time starter at the collegiate level. One of ESPN’s premier college football analysts, Paul Finebaum, said that Arch, “is the best college football quarterback we have seen since Tim Tebow entered the scene in 2006,” Finebaum said.
Draft expert Mel Kiper was similarly high on Manning, ranking him as the top quarterback prospect in the 2026 class.
“We put him at No. 1 because we have to. It’s Arch Manning. We saw glimpses last year of the greatness he could provide that Texas offense. Running the football, he’s got great legs. Cooper Manning, his father, was a wide receiver until he got injured. So he’s got speed – something Eli and Peyton didn’t have…” Kiper said.
Manning was brimming with confidence himself, too. Heading into the Longhorns’ season opener against the Ohio State Buckeyes, Manning had a quote that made waves across the college football landscape.
“The target’s not on our back. We have a red dot on everyone else,” he said.
Unfortunately, Manning didn’t quite deliver in the game against the Buckeyes. He finished with decent numbers, throwing for 170 yards, one touchdown, and an interception, but looked completely out of sorts for the bulk of the contest.
Now, by his own admission, Manning is done focusing on the game and just wants to move on.
“I think it was a long 24 hours, but I think I got it all out of the way. Watched the tape with everyone this morning – the good, the bad, the ugly – and then now we’re full on to San Jose State – I guess after this media [session] and we stop talking about it,” he said per Texas reporter Anwar Richardson.
It’ll be interesting to see how he bounces back.
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