Is Arch Manning Ready for Spotlight? An Analyst Expresses Odd Concern

Only two days away from the Texas Longhorns' season opener against the Ohio State Buckeyes, quarterback Arch Manning continues to be at the center of college football.

With the unprecedented hype surrounding him, some analysts continue to cast doubt on Manning due to the process by which he became the starter in Austin.

Jason McIntyre of FS1's The Herd falls into that category.

McIntyre's take

July 15, 2025; Atlanta, GA, USA; Texas quarterback Arch Manning is surrounded by media as he participates in SEC Media Days at the College Football Hall of Fame in Atlanta. | Gary Cosby Jr. / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

"I'm looking at the box score from the SEC Championship game, and then the playoff games against Clemson and Ohio State. Arch threw zero passes. None. If Arch is so good, you couldn't have put in a passing package for the guy?" McIntyre said.

While you can understand McIntrye's questioning of the game plan, what he fails to consider is the situation with Quinn Ewers. The idea seemed to always be that Manning would develop as the backup, rather than be involved game-by-game, when Ewers was at the helm. That has been proven true in retrospect.

Texas went 27-9 in games Ewers started over the past three years. He ranks third in Texas history in both passing yards and passing touchdowns.

"All these highlights you see, again, it's against like UTSA, Colorado State. I don't want to say they're hiding Arch, but I do have some mild concerns," McIntyre said.

Manning played in those games due to Ewers' injury. It wasn't necessarily them "hiding Arch" -- it was them trusting their veteran quarterback when he was fit to play. The regular-season game against Georgia is an exception to that, but neither passer was effective in the face of that Georgia pass rush. Manning played a rushing role against Texas A&M, reaching the endzone. But his time to take over in a passing capacity under center was 2025.

McIntyre sees Manning's waiting from a place of inexperience, rather than as a process of development.

"This is his third year on campus," McIntyre said. "I'm not taking a shot at the kid. I just don't know. Could he be great? Yeah, he certainly could. Do I hope he's interesting? Hell yeah, college football could use it."

While there are flaws to McIntyre's comments, in my opinion, his doubts about Manning, considering his lack of starts, do make sense in the context of his expectations. At this point, it seems extremely difficult for Manning to surpass the expectations the nation has set for him.

"He is the favorite to win the Heisman. They're the No. 1 team in the country. And they're one of the favorites to win the national championship. That is a lot of pressure on a guy who's been on campus for three years and has barely played football," McIntyre said.

Soon enough, Manning and the Longhorns will be going toe to toe with Ohio State, and all the chaos of the offseason will go out the window. While the matchup at The Shoe is a historic Week 1 meeting, more than anything, it will serve as a starting point for both sides in 2025. That will apply to Manning, who will look to get off on the right foot on Saturday.