It was supposed to be all victories and commercials by now for Steve Sarkisian and Arch Manning. Instead, Manning is facing speculation about sharing playing time with a redshirt freshman, or even transferring at season's end. His career is beginning to resemble that of Quinn Ewers, the Longhorns' previous No. 1 overall recruit, who was a good player but never reached the expectations surrounding him.
Sarkisian, meanwhile, is facing renewed pressure on his playcalling, roster decisions, program and future after consecutive losses to unranked teams. The questions are everywhere. Can Manning become more than a good but inconsistent quarterback with a famous name? Is Sarkisian an offensive genius, or has he benefited from extraordinary opportunities as an assistant at USC and Alabama? And why hasn't Texas turned its resources into more than a single national title since 1970?
Manning chose Texas over Alabama's Nick Saban and Georgia's Kirby Smart, largely because of the promise of coach and program. Just weeks ago, Texas was ranked No. 1 after victories over Ohio State and Tennessee. But the offense never looked like a juggernaut, and the losses to Oklahoma and Florida made the doubts impossible to ignore. Manning has thrown for just 11 touchdowns this season against five interceptions, and his 215.8 yards passing per game does not rank in the top 10 in the SEC.
With ESPN reporting that backup KJ Lacey would get more first-team reps this week, Lacey could see the field against Ole Miss. Manning said he expects to play better, and Sarkisian said he needs to see a better version of Manning. The Longhorns also rank 13th in the SEC at 3.64 yards per carry, so the question of how much of the collapse belongs to the quarterback versus the coach remains open.
Source: ESPN General · Summarized by HeadlinesBriefing