Roman Harper explains why Arch Manning is 'ahead of schedule'

Due to a Quinn Ewers injury, Arch Manning has become the top story in college football. Manning took over for most of Texas’ win against UTSA and will do so again on Saturday against Louisiana-Monroe. While most teams seem like they lose a step when playing the backup quarterback, Manning looked incredibly comfortable.

Roman Harper of the SEC Network explained why Manning found success vs. UTSA and is “ahead of schedule.” Part of it is playing in the Steve Sarkisian RPO-heavy offense but Harper credited the decision-making from Manning.

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“The thing that I’m most impressed with on Arch is, of course, his athleticism, his ball placement, all those things,” Harper said. “But the ball handling for such a young quarterback. The RPO styles, it looks flawless for him. It looks like he’s been getting coached up to do this from 10-12 years old. Not saying he has but I’m probably sure he has.

“So, when you see these things flash really early, it’s like ‘Man, this guy is ahead of schedule.’ … He’s in an offense that’s really inducive for him to do these things really well at a high level. He’s really able to show off all of his talents at Texas right now.”

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Prior to taking the field against UTSA, Manning just had 11 pass attempts to his name. His career total more than doubled with his 12, throwing for 223 yards and four touchdowns.

The impact was instant too. Manning’s first throw wound up being a touchdown throw to DeAndre Moore to extend the Texas lead to three scores. After Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium was worried about the Ewers injury, they were instantly brought back to life by the backup quarterback.

One play Harper featured on his show, Read and React with Cole Cubelic, was the 67-yard touchdown run on the following drive. While the athleticism is what stands out from Manning, making the correct read and pulling the ball was impressive to the SEC Network analyst.

We will get to see more from Manning for at least one more game. Sarkisian says Ewers will be questionable heading into the Mississippi State showdown, the first-ever conference game for Texas as a member of the SEC.

If Ewers is healthy, he will be out on the field as the starter. But Texas and Harper feel pretty good about who is waiting on the sidelines if he is thrown into action again.