Steve Sarkisian candidly evaluates Arch Manning after poor performance vs. UTEP
By Mark Kern
Published:
Steve Sarkisian and Texas were able to get the 27-10 win against UTEP in Week 3, but the offense once again really struggled to move the ball. Arch Manning had an extremely tough day, with it getting so bad that the fans in Austin booed him late in the first half.
When asked about his quarterbacks struggles on Saturday, Sarkisian was candid about what went wrong on Saturday vs. the Miners.
“I feel like he did press some tonight,” Sarkisian told reporters after the game. “He knew he was missing some throws that I think he is comfortable making. Then you start skipping reads, scrambling and relying on your legs too much. That’s always my caution is that when you have a little success with your legs, then you start to rely on your legs. Then we are out of scheme, and then we are just playing athlete football.”
Manning finished the game 11-of-25 for 114 yards and one touchdown. He did have success with his legs, as he rushed the ball nine times for 51 yards and two touchdowns. However, as Sarkisian said, at times he left the pocket and ran instead of going through all his reads.
Entering the season there wasn’t a player in college football who had higher expectations than Manning. Now, he has struggled this season twice in three games, as he also had a really tough game in the Week 1 loss to Ohio State.
The Longhorns are going to be in games because their defense is as good as there is in college football. However, if this team is going to be good enough to win the national championship, then Manning is going to have be much closer to the guy people thought would contend for the Heisman Trophy before the year started.
