Legendary College Quarterback Shares Advice to Arch Manning Amidst Struggles

After starting the season as the favorite for the Heisman Trophy, Texas Longhorns quarterback Arch Manning slowly slipped down the rankings with below-average performances in the season opener against the Ohio State Buckeyes and last week against the UTEP Miners.

The lone silver lining in the year has been the game against San Jose State, where the young star threw for 295 yards and four touchdowns while running for an additional one, but other than that, Manning and the rest of the Longhorns' offense have either been average like they were against UTEP or below average like in the first game against the Buckeyes, the former even resulting in Manning receiving boos from the home DKR crowd.

Luckily for the New Orleans native, he has received some advice from a legendary college football quarterback who knows exactly what it is like to be in Arch's position, young and under so much pressure.

Tim Tebow Gave Some Words of Wisdom to Manning

As a guest on The Rich Eisen Show, former Florida Gators quarterback Tim Tebow was asked by the former SportsCenter host what advice he would give Steve Sarkisian's new offensive leader, and, Tebow being Tebow, had quite a few words for him.

"I would just encourage him, like 'man, you're a gifted player,'" said the 2007 Heisman winner. "Remember it's for the love of the game. He's at a location right now with great coaches and great players around him, but there's just a lot of pressure. The pressure is real, and sometimes, it's hard to explain that to people."

Tebow, a two-time national champion with the Gators under head coach Urban Meyer in addition to his Heisman, surely knows a thing or two about being a young football star with high expectations.

He may not come from a famous football family, but he has the right to speak on the ins and outs of the game.

Tebow continued with his encouragement, saying that perfection is not expected and that the weight is not all on the young signal caller's back.

"Remember the love of the game and play for it," Tebow said. "You don't have to make every play, and you don't have to be perfect. I have really appreciated the way that he has carried himself for three years now, and the way he's handled it as a teammate with Quinn (Ewers), and then when he took over, even how he's handled some of the disappointment. He's a great example of someone that has handled both hype and criticism; he hasn't pointed any fingers, and he's just handled it really well."

Manning will look to get back on the good side of the publicity when the Longhorns take on the Sam Houston State Bearkats in Austin Saturday night in their final contest before conference play.