Watching Arch Manning: How Texas’ fascinating backup navigated a ‘C-plus’ night in charge

AUSTIN, Texas — Before he made his first media appearance as a Texas Longhorn last December, quarterback Arch Manning got some advice from members of his famous family.

The tip that most stood out came from his grandfather, College Football Hall of Famer and longtime New Orleans Saints quarterback Archie Manning, who told him “less is best” when answering questions from reporters.

Arch heeded that mantra on Saturday when asked how he would grade his first collegiate start, three-plus quarters of action in a 51-3 domination of overmatched Louisiana-Monroe.

“Probably like a C-plus,” Manning said after exhaling then giving a way to a smile. “But a win’s a win.”

Manning, the most famous backup quarterback in the country, had an up-and-down starting debut on Saturday night in place of the injured Quinn Ewers. There was a lot to like, including the picturesque deep passes he unloaded to the Longhorns’ speedy receivers. And there are things he’d like to have back, such as his two interceptions and other passes he forced into coverage.

A few things became clear while watching Manning navigate his brightest spotlight yet: He’s focused yet understated in his approach. He likes to have fun. His physical gifts are immense. And he still has a lot of room to grow as a quarterback.

With help from a pair of binoculars trained on Manning throughout the night, here’s a closer look at how his starting debut went and how he handled everything that came with it.

Pregame

Outside Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium, it wasn’t hard to glean that Manning was starting. It only required a short walk down Bevo Blvd, — the festive pregame gathering space that occupies a stretch of San Jacinto Boulevard next to DKR, to spot burnt orange shirts and jerseys sporting his name and No. 16.

In the stadium, as Manning warmed up near the visitors’s sideline around the 5-yard line about 45 minutes before kickoff, countless eyes zeroed in on him. Photographers, videographers and other random smartphone-wielding citizens along the sideline had their devices pointed toward the redshirt freshman quarterback.

After the team returned to the locker room and the starting lineups were announced on DKR’s massive video board, Manning got the loudest cheers from the crowd when his name and picture displayed on the screen.

When kickoff approached, Manning stood behind head coach Steve Sarkisian on the sideline, clutching a football with both hands. Backup center Conner Robertson came up to Manning, dapped him up and tapped him on his chest.

When walk-on quarterback Cole Lourd, who served as the third-string quarterback on Saturday, hovered nearby, Manning gestured toward him for some last-minute warmup throws. Lourd obliged, and the two started tossing the ball before Manning took the field. What was going through his mind before he stepped on the field for the first time as the starter?

“Just to go try to execute to the best of my ability and move the ball forward,” Manning said afterward. “Getting the ball in my playmakers’ hands and giving us a chance to win.”

Manning jogged out for his first possession to loud cheers. He quickly gestured to the crowd, flapping his arms with palms facing down, for the fans to quiet down. They did.

First quarter, 14:55 left

Manning’s first series offered immediate adversity. On the first play from scrimmage, ULM’s pressure forced his first pass attempt to sail over the head of receiver Matthew Golden.

On his eighth snap, facing second-and-4 at the ULM 43, Manning sidestepped the initial pressure, then was leveled as he threw by 6-foot-2, 285-pound defensive tackle Jaylan Ware from the second wave of the Warhawks’ pass rush. Although Manning’s pass sailed toward two Texas receivers, three ULM defenders waited in the area, and Carl Fauntroy easily brought down the first interception of Manning’s career.

That one stuck with Manning, even after the game.

“It’s second-and-(4), just throw the ball away, let’s play another down,” Manning said.

Manning jogged toward the sideline and lifted his helmet to his forehead as he approached Sarkisian, who exchanged words with Manning before the quarterback headed to the bench. There, he plopped down next to quarterbacks coach AJ Milwee and began reviewing the first series on a tablet.

That became his regular seat on the sideline throughout the night.

“To think he was going to come out and play a perfect game, I don’t think anybody in here thought that,” Sarkisian said.

And yes, Ewers also threw an interception on the first possession of his first start at Texas, on Sept. 3, 2022 against … ULM.

First quarter, 10:00 left

Manning’s second series brought the night’s first taste of real success while offering a brief window into his on-field demeanor.

When he connected with receiver Isaiah Bond for a 56-yard completion on a third-and-1, Manning didn’t physically react. He just jogged downfield, looked toward the sideline and briefly put his hands over the earholes of his helmet to hear Sarkisian call the next play.

He also showed a dash of his competitive spirit. Later in the drive, after a handoff to running back Jaydon Blue, Manning looked ready to stick his nose in among the blockers at the line of scrimmage. As Blue spun, broke a tackle and gathered himself, Manning sprinted in front of Blue toward the ULM defense, extended his arm and put a light hand on ULM linebacker Billy Pullen, as if he were going to throw a block.

When Blue scored a touchdown to punctuate the drive, Manning went straight to the pile to try to help push Blue in, then looked at the head linesman approaching the pile and signaled touchdown before the official did. As players emerged from the scrum, Manning extended his right hand to center Jake Majors, helped him up, and patted him on the upper body, then sought out Blue for a celebratory handshake.

First quarter 5:28 left

After a would-be pick six by Texas linebacker Anthony Hill was brought back by a block-in-the-back penalty, Manning and the offense went to work again with a short field. It didn’t take long for the Longhorns to cash in: On the fourth play of the drive, Manning executed a play-action fake, rolled to his right and hit Blue with a strike near the front corner of the end zone and a 14-0 lead.

Manning performed a Tiger Woods-esque right fist pump — the first of at least three on the night — then looked toward an equipment staffer on the sideline and pointed at him. The staffer pointed right back at Manning.

Once Manning got rolling in the first half, Texas piled up the points. On his fourth series, upon hitting freshman Ryan Wingo for a touchdown pass, Manning loosened up. He raised his hand and gave high fives to his offensive linemen one by one, and when Majors approached, he leaped and Majors lifted Manning to the sky, then tapped him on the left side of his helmet in celebration.

“I think sometimes I play the best when I’m just having fun and keeping it lighthearted,” Manning said.

Second quarter, 13:26 left

Before his fifth series, Manning sought more warmup throws on the sideline, a typical routine throughout the night. His throwing partner early in the second quarter? Ewers. The Heisman Trophy candidate, who sported a black long-sleeved shirt under his No. 3 jersey, exchanged a few tosses with Manning before No. 16 returned to the field.

On his first play of the drive, Manning again unleashed a beauty, a 42-yard throw to a diving Silas Bolden. But the pass was ruled incomplete after officials concluded on replay review that the ball hit the turf when Bolden secured it. No matter. Manning connected with Golden for a 46-yard gain on third-and-10 to keep the drive alive.

As with nearly every bomb he connected on, Manning offered no reaction and simply jogged to the line of scrimmage, looking toward the sideline for the next play.

Second quarter, 1:40 left

After throwing an incomplete deep ball to Johntay Cook, who was surrounded by two ULM defenders with a third closing in, Manning turned back to watch the replay on the video board. After missing Blue near the left sideline on the next play, he looked at the big screen again.

After an offside penalty made it third-and-5, Manning tried to hit Blue on a Texas route in the middle of the field, but the ball went off Blue’s hands and into those of Wydett Williams Jr. for Manning’s second interception.

Manning just looked toward the sideline and unbuckled his chin strap. When Manning got to the sideline and heard from Sarkisian and Milwee, Manning yanked his helmet off, revealing a face that wore a look of frustration. He didn’t take his normal spot on the bench, this time sitting on the end of it to the right of true freshman Trey Owens, his backup for the night and the third-string quarterback when Ewers is healthy. He slid down to his usual seat when Owens got up moments later.

Third quarter, 11:04 left

Manning’s first drive of the second half showed the quarterback’s looser side re-emerge. After true freshman Jerrick Gibson ran for a 2-yard touchdown to cap a scoring drive, Manning did another fist pump, congratulated a few other teammates and then jogged toward the sideline.

Gibson sprinted to catch up with Manning and invited him to do an elaborate, choreographed handshake. Manning, with a smile, obliged. The two slapped hands three times, then pulled their right arms back away from each other and transitioned to a dance.

“Jerrick’s my guy, we have a good relationship,” Manning said afterward. “I don’t know if y’all know him, but he’s one of the nicest guys on the team. Treats everyone the same. So, yeah, we have a little handshake.”

Third quarter, 8:20 left

Sarkisian said after the game that one of the requests he made of Ewers was to “keep it light” for Manning. Knowing the quarterback may endure some nerves making his starting debut, Ewers followed through.

Before Manning’s eighth series, Manning and Ewers took a seat next to each other and chatted for a few minutes. Ewers had an earpiece in all night to hear all the play calls and otherwise be available to Manning for help or encouragement on the sideline.

“When Arch keeps it light, he’s really, really good,” Sarkisian said. “We try not to let him get too, too focused. So that was Quinn’s role tonight, to keep it light with him and let him relax a little bit.”

Manning said Ewers was “super good” to him all week long and mentioned they have a strong relationship.

After chatting with Ewers, Manning threw warmup passes with Owens.

Despite the efforts to relax Manning, the ensuing drive turned out to be one of his roughest series of the night. He dropped a snap, picked it up, scrambled to his left and then launched a risky pass downfield that fell incomplete on second-and-5.

On third-and-5, Manning couldn’t find an open receiver downfield and opted for a check down to the right side to Blue. But Manning threw it too far in front of Blue, and instead of a conversion, the Longhorns settled for a punt.

Manning froze and stared at the spot he threw the ball. When he got to the sideline, he snatched his helmet off with a little more force than usual. His cheeks inflated with a deep breath of frustration as he sat back down on the bench.

Fourth quarter, 14:56 left

On Manning’s final series of the night, the Longhorns found the end zone for the sixth time. He got into a rhythm on the drive, completing 4 of 5 passes to get the Longhorns in the red zone. Blue finished it off with a 7-yard scoring run.

As Blue crossed the goal line and the scoreboard turned to 43-3, Manning raised his arms skyward, signaling the touchdown. He approached the pile to congratulate Blue and others, then found himself in between right guard DJ Campbell and a ULM defender who were jawing with each other after the score.

Manning appeared to play peacemaker, and officials got involved to keep things from escalating. With that, Manning’s night was done as he gave way to Owens.

It was a night of highs and lows. Manning finished 15 of 29 passing for 258 yards with two touchdowns and two interceptions. Sarkisian said afterward that he’d like the completion percentage to be higher but that the result is understandable because the game plan called for more deep passes based on how ULM’s defense played the Longhorns.

But Sarkisian liked the way Manning bounced back from mistakes.

“I don’t think the Arch we saw today, in dealing with some of those negative plays, was the same guy we saw a year ago at this time,” Sarkisian said. “So he has grown a ton, and that takes a lot of maturity to get that done.”

The most surprising thing to Manning in his first start? The length of the game — a reminder of how new to this he still is.

“The games feel long when you’re in there for the majority of it,” he said. “They’re a lot longer than high school.”

Following Archie’s advice from last winter, Arch kept it short and sweet, answering 14 questions in fewer than five minutes.

When asked what lessons he’d take from this game, Manning went back to his miscues.

“Just to continue to try and take what’s there and not to force anything,” Manning said. “The shots will come with Sark’s offense, so just try to move the ball forward every play and one play at a time.”

When the game ended and Smokey the Cannon had gone off and “The Eyes of Texas” had played, the Longhorns moved toward the team tunnel. Manning was stopped at the 5-yard line, where he posed for a photo with a fan. Then, flanked by a police officer and a team staffer, he headed off the field.

Fans at the field-level suites and along the aisles of the first deck straddling the tunnel called his name and reached their hands out, hoping to get high fives. Pat Green’s “I like Texas” played on the stadium speakers.

And everything will be just right down here in Texas
Man, there ain’t no doubt
Just listen to me ’cause I know what I’m talkin’ about.

(Photo: Tim Warner / Getty Images)