Arch Manning’s preseason hype suffered yet another blow after the Texas Longhorns were taken down by the Florida Gators last week, 29-21. Manning was touted to be the Heisman favorite entering the 2025 season. But since then, he has fallen short massively in terms of preseason expectations.
SEC analyst Paul Finebaum dissected the loss and offered his views on the preseason buzz, calling them “meaningless” during his appearance on ESPN College Football with Matt Barrie.
“It just shows you, Matt, how wildly entertaining and how meaningless the preseason is,” Finebaum said when asked about Manning’s preseason hype (5:23). “No. I mean, really, if you follow college football, you could not have been surprised. That didn’t stop a lot of people from reading and saying, ‘Well, I think Texas is gonna win.’ And it really had a lot to do with, uh, the game ended up being about Texas, but the predictions were based on how bad Florida has been. Um, if that makes any sense whatsoever.”
In the game against Florida, Manning threw two interceptions and two touchdowns while completing 16 of 29 passes for 263 yards. Manning also rushed for 37 yards on 15 carries. His underwhelming performances have been the story of the season against some top FBS teams. He struggled even in the season opener against Ohio State.
Through five games now, Manning has passed for 1,151 yards, 11 touchdowns and five interceptions with a completion percentage of 60%. He also has five rushing touchdowns.
Steve Sarkisian Expresses His Confidence In Arch Manning Despite Tough Loss To Florida
One thing about Texas Longhorns head coach Steve Sarkisian is that he never let his confidence down in his trusted resource, even in tough times. He supported Quinn Ewers last season, and this year, he is ready to go the distance with Arch Manning as well.
After a tough loss to Florida, where Manning was sacked multiple times and threw two interceptions, Sarkisian commended his performance.
“He did take some hits. I thought Arch competed really well today. He battled his b*tt off,” Sarkisian said. “The interception there that their safety makes over the top is a heck of a play. I’m sure there’s going to be plays he’s going to look at on the film and say he wished he could have back. But I thought he battled, he competed.”
It doesn’t matter what Sarkisian believes because the road ahead is only going to get tougher for Arch Manning & Co. They can’t afford to lose games if they aim to make the 12-team College Football Playoff field.
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Stephen A. Smith Minces No Words on Arch Manning Not Being Worthy of Massive $6.8M NIL Valuation
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