Arch Manning is set to serve as the backup quarterback for the Texas Longhorns for the first time this year. He will do so against the Washington Huskies in the Sugar Bowl, which will serve as a semifinal matchup for the College Football Playoff.
It will be the first game of his sophomore year, kind of.
Manning arrived to Austin last January as an early enrollee. The first grandson of football wanted an opportunity to learn the offense, get on a college strength and conditioning program, and develop during spring practice.
All of his hard work paid off!
Arch Manning is ready.
Not only has Manning put on a good bit of weight — all muscle — he is much more prepared for the level of play that is required of a Big 12 quarterback. Texas paid a lot of money, through its NIL collective, to retain Maalik Murphy as the backup in 2023 because they were not ready to thrust the true freshman into the starting job if Quinn Ewers was to get hurt.
It ended up being a sound investment! Ewers missed time and Murphy went undefeated in relief.
Now, with a year under his belt, Manning is set to serve as the No. 2 after Murphy left the program and entered the transfer portal. The Longhorns staff is much more comfortable with that move today.
I joked with him the other day, like, ‘you’re not a freshman anymore, this is your sophomore year now.’ What would it look like going into your sophomore year preparing to play, and that’s what we’re doing […]
Arch is the backup for this game, he’s more than capable of playing really good football for us. I think the opportunity he had to play here against (Texas) Tech showed us what he’s capable of, and we’ll get him prepared to play.
— Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian
Nothing has changed with the plan at quarterback upon arrival in New Orleans. Manning has taken all of the reps as the second-string quarterback during practice for the CFP Semifinal.
Offensive coordinator Kyle Flood is thrilled with what he has seen from the quasi-sophomore of late.
When you get into the season, you don’t always have the opportunity to get everybody the amount of reps that you would like to. So I think that’s the biggest change for him […]
We’ve got a ton of confidence in Arch. I think his progression throughout the year has been excellent. He’s a real student of the game, and he’s approached it like that from the very beginning. So I think probably the best thing for him and for us as a team was that when that happened, it was very easy for him to just continue to do what he was doing, because he never approached it like he was the third quarterback or the backup quarterback. He approaches everything like he’s the starting quarterback. I think that’s the key when you’re in a reserve role of being ready when you’re called upon.
— Texas offensive coordinator Kyle Flood
Ideally, Ewers is able to finish out the year with a clean bill of health. Manning is there in case of emergency but the hope is that he will not play at all unless it’s in garbage time during a blowout in their favor like it was during the Big 12 Championship.
If he was to go down, however, Ewers is confident in the young five-star’s abilities.
Arch is a great kid. It’s cool to be in the same quarterback room as him. His family has got a lot of great history, especially in the state (Louisiana). He’s learned a lot and has grown a lot this whole year. It’s cool to see his growth.
— Quinn Ewers
Texas’ starting quarterback has seen the growth first-hand.
You can just tell that he wants to learn as much as he can. He’s always asking questions, just trying to do his best. I think he understands the opportunity he has in front of him, and he’s definitely not going to waste it.
— Quinn Ewers
Tight end Ja’Tavion Sanders, while equally as confident in Manning, understands that it would take a team effort to get the young signal-caller in a position to succeed on such a big stage.
I think it would take him a little bit to get settled in. First start, and then in a College Football Playoff game. There’s so much on the line. I definitely think as a team, we would just have to implement the confidence in him, tell him we got you, just go and throw it. So I think if he was to play in the game, he would be ready.
— Ja’Tavion Sanders
While the Longhorns would prefer that Arch Manning does not play during the Sugar Bowl on Monday, he’s ready to go!