Steve Sarkisian Lays Out Honest Expectations for Arch Manning As a Freshman at Texas

Much was made of Arch Manning’s debut for Texas during the program’s annual spring game back on April 15—and not in a good way. The highly-touted freshman quarterback struggled in his first college exhibition, completing just five of his 13 passes for 30 yards. 

While appearing on 105.3 The Fan on Saturday, Longhorns coach Steve Sarkisian addressed the game and Manning’s development as he continues to evaluate his signal-callers.

“He’s on the right trajectory that he should be on,” Sarkisian said. “He’s a true freshman in college. He really should still be in high school. Just finished his first semester on the Forty Acres. There’s a definite transition there. 

“There’s a transition to college life, there’s a transition to the scheme that he hasn’t been accustomed to, there’s a transition to the speed of the game and how it goes,” he continued. “There were a lot of really good moments that Archie had throughout the spring, and there was a couple tough days.”  

Sarkisian added that both he and Manning could agree the spring game “wasn’t his best game” but also said “we weren’t great around him either.” 

Manning will be competing with sophomore Quinn Ewers for the starting job in the fall. Ewers completed 16 of 23 passes for 195 yards and one touchdown during the same spring game.