3-2-1: Arch Manning takes over against UTSA and takes the nation by storm
Arch Manning took the nation by storm on Saturday night with a scintillating, five-touchdown performance for the No. 2 Texas Longhorns against the UTSA Roadrunners.
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One Moment
A similar scene has played out in Quinn Ewers‘ past. During his first season at Texas in 2022, Ewers was eviscerating the Alabama defense in his second career home start. He was 9-for-12 for 130 yards against the Crimson Tide before Dallas Turner landed on top of him and knocked him out of the game.
Against UTSA on Saturday, Ewers lit up the Roadrunner defense to the tune of 14-for-16 for 185 yards and two touchdowns over one interception. But like against Alabama, an injury to his midsection knocked Ewers from the game.
What difference does three years make?
No longer is Ewers’ backup Hudson Card. It’s Arch Manning. And with 12:19 left in the second quarter, Manning came in and made things happen. A lot.
Manning threw a 19-yard scoring strike to DeAndre Moore on his very first snap. Then, when the Longhorns got another opportunity on offense, Manning did something reminiscent of his grandfather’s game. He ran 67-yards and away from defenders for the Longhorns’ fourth score of the game to make it 28-7.
At halftime, Steve Sarkisian called Ewers’ ailment a “strained abdomen” on ESPN. That’s not a diagnosis that sounds dire, but seeing the Texas signal-caller on the sidelines in street clothes was undoubtedly not what the Longhorns wanted.
But when the quarterback stepping in for the starter is Manning, it’s a little bit different than when other schools’ starters go down. Two of Manning’s first plays at quarterback in a game where the end result was not yet decided were scoring plays. He’d make even more over the course of his outing.
Two Players
Manning didn’t just stand in for Ewers as the Longhorns’ quarterback on Saturday. He exceled, even prompting ESPN to make a dedicated graphic featuring his stats at the bottom of the screen when the Longhorns were on offense.
The stats were great! Not only did Manning find Moore on his first throw and rush 67 yards for a touchdown, he also hit Isaiah Bond on a swing pass that the Alabama transfer took 51 yards to the house for his second score to make it 35-7 Texas. (Bond finished the day with five receptions for 103 yards and two scores). Then, he found a wide open Ryan Wingo for a 75-yard touchdown that made it 42-7.
There would be one more scoring toss that Johntay Cook hauled in to make it 49-7. More on that one later.
Manning ultimately finished 9-for-12 for 223 yards and four touchdowns, plus his rushing touchdown.
Manning’s play on Saturday against the Roadrunners was a glimpse of an extremely bright future at the quarterback position for the Longhorns. How soon will that future arrive? That is something Sarkisian will have to address in the coming days.
In his first extended opportunity to run the offense, Manning looked like the scion of the of football’s first family and was everything Texas fans could have asked for and more.
It wasn’t all about the five-star offensive players. Simmons, the No. 15 overall prospect in the 2024 class, was Texas’ second-leading tackler against the Roadrunners. Simmons tallied six tackles, four of them solo, with 2.0 tackles for loss and a sack.
He was not only a factor on third-down packages, but also during standard downs as the Longhorns’ Buck. The five-star has earned more and more conventional snaps in the early portions of his Longhorn career because of the impact he’s made in games against Colorado State, Michigan, and now UTSA. It’s safe to expect more as the season carries on.
Simmons always said in his recruitment he wanted to play in the SEC. He’s going to have the chance make a difference for Texas in SEC games this season.
Three Plays
Play 1: David Gbenda, Barryn Sorrell, and Michael Taaffe make an important fourth-down stop
Ewers tossed an interception in the second quarter, his second of the year, and the Roadrunner offense took the field in Texas territory trailing 7-0. They moved to 3rd and 1 on the Longhorn 29, but Trey Moore and Alfred Collins made a stop to bring up 4th down.
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Jeff Traylor remained aggressive, electing to go for it. The Roadrunners lined up like they were going to try to bully the Longhorns in the trenches, but they elected to try some misdirection with a pitch outside.
Jahdae Barron was having none of that. He worked past the receiver trying to block the play to force the run back inside. Ready and waiting for the running back were Sorrell, Gbenda, and Taaffe.
A few plays later, Texas succeeded where the Roadrunners had failed. The Longhorns converted a 4th and 3 with a Ewers to Bond pass to cross into UTSA territory. Ewers led a drive to the UTSA 19 before a slant to Cook sprung loose and resulted in the Longhorns’ second score.
The stuff by several of Texas’ main leaders kept the Roadrunners out of touchdown territory and eventually resulted in a two-score lead for the Longhorns.
Play 2: Arch Manning 67-yard touchdown run
This is No. 2 only because this section attempts to go in sequential order.
Sarkisian isn’t big on the quarterback run game. He likes to keep hits off of his passer so they’re more capable of landing some of the deep shots that are staples of his offense. More hits means more bumps and bruises, and a bruised arm can’t make deep throws like a healthy one can.
Even so, Sarkisian has said he doesn’t want his quarterbacks to be robots on the field but rather football players. A robotic move would have been to just hand the ball off on a zone read. Manning is no robot.
The juke! The moves! The little hint of swagger at the end!
There was a sense of angst in Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium even after Manning’s first touchdown toss. UTSA had just scored and, oh yeah, the starting quarterback and Heisman favorite was nowhere to be seen.
The crowd already gets hyped for Manning, and the run only got them more energized. It was a needed play, but also one that illustrates how Manning is a quality athlete and not just a blue-chip passer.
Play 3: Arch Manning’s 12-yard touchdown pass to Johntay Cook
Of course. Of course!
Manning makes the proper read, steps and fires, and delivers a perfect pass to Cook for No. 1’s second touchdown of the night.
Then, Manning flashes some emotion. That is touchdown pass No. 4 after all, that’s a massive game.
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In his introduction to extended play, Manning put on quite a show for the 101,892 in attendance and the millions tuning in around the country. It was quite the way for Texas to improve to 3-0.
