Steve Sarkisian shares Arch Manning trait he’s ‘most impressed’ by
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Texas quarterback Arch Manning got off to a slow start this season, but has made big strides in recent weeks.
His biggest game of the season came on Saturday as he threw 4 touchdown passes in a Week 13 win over Arkansas. Manning also rushed for a touchdown and caught a TD as well, capping off a historic game.
After the game, coach Steve Sarkisian was asked about what has impressed him the most about Manning’s improvement over the course of his first full season as a starter. Sarkisian pointed to Manning’s poise.
“I think the thing I’m probably most impressed with is his poise,” Sarkisian said. “He feels different in pre-game than he did two months ago. Even in the moments tonight when things broke down a little bit, he just seems so under control as he was avoiding the rush and keeping his eyes downfield.”
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Over his last 4 games, Manning has thrown for 1,314 yards on 152 attempts. That’s an average of 8.6 yards per attempt, which is a significant improvement over his average over the first 7 games of the season (7.7 yards per attempt). Manning also has an 11-to-2 TD-to-INT ratio over his last 4 games.
Despite Manning’s improvement, Texas appears to still be just outside of the College Football Playoff picture with one week of regular season games remaining. The Longhorns do have one big opportunity left to impress the selection committee as they host No. 3 Texas A&M next week.
If Manning plays well in that game and the Longhorns finish the season at 9-3, perhaps there’s still a path for Texas to reach the CFP for the third year in a row.
Kickoff against the Aggies next weekend is at 7:30 p.m. ET on Saturday night in Austin.
Spenser is a news editor for Saturday Down South and covers college football across all Saturday Football brands.
