Throughout the first 3 games of the college football season, the biggest disappointment around the nation, beyond a shadow of a doubt, has been the struggles of Arch Manning. After entering the season with the most hype of any player over the last decade, Manning has failed to live up to expectations and has struggled mightily in all 3 starts in his first season of being QB1 for the Texas Longhorns.
As a result, many people in Austin and Longhorn Nation have major concerns about the redshirt sophomore as Texas starts the heart of its SEC schedule in just 2 weeks with a big game on the road at The Swamp in Gainesville. The reason fans and pundits alike are on red alert about the Manning situation is simple — if he doesn’t figure it out and play better, the team who entered the season ranked No. 1 in the nation will miss the College Football Playoff for the first time in the last 3 years.
With 1 more nonconference tune up game left on the schedule against Sam Houston on Saturday, here are a couple of things Manning must improve upon to change the trajectory of his season and legacy:
Keeping It Simple While Improving Accuracy
After completing 67% of passes in spot duty last season and coming into the Texas program highly touted for being one of most accurate high school quarterbacks in recent memory, it’s been very odd to see Manning be so inaccurate. Currently, Manning has completed a head scratching 55% of his passes while only completing 47 of his 85 pass attempts through 3 games.
No matter if the throws are short or deep, Manning has consistently been high and away or high and long on a chunk of his passing attempts this season. Just last week against UTEP, things got so bad he threw 10 consecutive incompletions while getting booed loudly by the Austin faithful.
A big way to fix this problem would be to give Manning dink and dunk passes where he can find a rhythm early and, if things aren’t available, he can take off running freely so that he’s playing football and not thinking football. Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian has an impeccable reputation of getting quarterbacks straightened out and his process is to be trusted, but this current Arch Manning situation must be handled differently than how coach Sark has done things in the past.
Instead of calling more shot plays and go balls to try to get Manning in rhythm, Sark should scrap almost everything and call simple drag and crossing routes until Manning proves he comfortable enough to take the 50-yard shot passes down the field he’s more than capable of completing.
The “Keep It Simple” method must be put on full display if Manning is going to have any chance of reclaiming his accuracy this season.
Arch must get his swag back
Despite saying all the right (and cliché) things, owning up and taking full responsibility for his lackluster play so far this season, Manning’s body language on the field is not displaying the confidence needed to be great. This must be addressed ASAP if Texas is going to have any realistic chance to come out of the SEC as champion this season.
Unlike last year, we haven’t seen the choreographed gestures and dances with teammates which defined Manning’s sophomore year in his abbreviated role. Many times, he comes to the sidelines with a perplexed look on his face while looking like an athlete who is uncomfortable rather than a player who is the star of the show.
Having swag doesn’t determine if a player is going to be great or not, but for some players, it’s a part of their athletic DNA and Manning proved last year it’s a part of his. Nobody has fun while struggling, but a loose, more carefree approach by Manning should help him slow down and turn things around instead of being sped up and consistently rushing his delivery, which is playing a big role in his current struggles.
In the big picture, Arch Manning is too talented and prepared to struggle this way all season long. My advice to Texas fans and people around the nation who keep Manning under the microscope is simple. To quote Aaron Rodgers from his time with the Packers: “R-E-L-A-X” and give the kid a realistic timeline to figure things out before forming concrete conclusions.
Kendrick E. Johnson writes for various national outlets such as High School on SI, Yardbarker, ESPN Andscape and MMA Weekly. He is an independent print journalist, sports television reporter and multimedia journalist who has covered the NBA Finals, NFL, NCAA football, MLB, NHL, WWE and over 75 world championship boxing and UFC Fights nationally. Johnson has also covered every prep sport possible in the Dallas-Fort Worth area and all across the great state of Texas. He’s done numerous 1-on-1 interviews with some of the biggest names and personalities in sports from Kobe Bryant, Stephen Curry and Shaq on the basketball side to Jon Jones, Canelo Alvarez and Terence Crawford on the combat sports side and John Cena, Jey and Jimmy Uso and Charlotte Flair in WWE.
