Steve Sarkisian on Arch Manning's spring game: 'It was good to see'

Texas fans got a glimpse at what the future might look like with Arch Manning at quarterback in Saturday’s spring game. The redshirt freshman put together quite the performance to finish with 355 yards passing and three touchdowns, two of which were 75-yard bombs downfield.

Manning’s final pass of the day — a Hail Mary — was intercepted as his team lost 35-34, but it was an encouraging performance that left many impressed. That included Longhorns coach Steve Sarkisian, who spoke on the performance from his young star postgame.

“The biggest thing I saw from Arch was something we really harped on with him about a week and a half ago about just dialing into playing the play, keeping your eyes up,” Sarkisian said. “When he gets himself in trouble at times is when he relies on his athleticism, which he has a ton of. There’s times today I blew the whistle on him and I don’t know if he was really happy with me that I blew it, but he’s non-contact.

“But when he keeps his eyes up and steps up in the pocket, he can deliver those balls down the field the way we like to play. So it was good to see and it was good to see some of the guys around him play with him the way that they did.”

Manning started the day off on a high note as his very first pass found DeAndre Moore Jr. downfield for the first of his two 75-yard touchdown passes. He completed his first five passes and directed the White team to another touchdown on the ensuing drive to tie the game at 14.

Manning’s final score of the day came with just 3:16 remaining as he connected with Isaiah Bond for his second 75-yard touchdown of the afternoon. He completed 76% of his passes in what was an incredibly efficient outing for the young star.

Arch Manning, the nephew of NFL legends Peyton and Eli Manning, is a former five-star prospect out of Isidore Newman High School in New Orleans. He ranked as the No. 1 overall player in the 2023 cycle according to the On3 Industry Ranking, a weighted average that utilizes all four major recruiting media companies.

That obviously comes with high expectations, and many believe Manning could one day be a star. However, Texas has not rushed him to step into that role so far, as he played only two games behind Quinn Ewers as a true freshman this past season.

Manning will begin this season behind Ewers on the depth chart once again, but his time could be coming within the next year or two. When it does, Longhorns fans can only hope Saturday is a sign of what to expect.