What Arch Manning Showed in Second Half vs. Mississippi State

Quarterback Arch Manning may not start for the Texas Longhorns on Saturday against Vanderbilt after suffering a concussion in overtime versus Mississippi State.

But in the Longhorns' comeback effort against the Bulldogs -- in which Texas scored 24 consecutive points to emerge victorious -- Manning put on a show late in the game to record a new college career-high for passing yards.

Brooks Austin of The Film Guy Network reviewed the film of Manning's second half performance, impressed by the progression and talent he showed to spur Texas' miracle comeback.

Austin was featured on "The Paul Finebaum Show" on Tuesday to break down his analysis.

"The tape tells me that the young quarterback just started to blossom when everything else around him continued to crumble," Austin said to Finebaum. "Paul, this guy picked up his sword and went to war."

Here is a summary of Austin's full film review of Manning's execution last Saturday.

The first three drives of the second half

Oct 25, 2025; Starkville, Mississippi, USA; Texas Longhorns quarterback Arch Manning (16) passes the ball during the second quarter against the Mississippi State Bulldogs at Davis Wade Stadium at Scott Field. Mandatory Credit: Petre Thomas-Imagn Images | Petre Thomas-Imagn Images

Austin starts off his video by saying that much of Texas' offensive production that went into the second-half explosion stems from getting to "attackable counts," meaning getting to second and third down distances that allow for success.

He goes on to show Texas' first third-down of the second half, a third-and-six, in which the offensive line did a good enough job in protection to let receivers get to the sticks as Manning locates his open pass-catcher and delivers on time.

"The offensive identity moving forward needs to be about offensive efficiency on first and second down," Austin said. "I know that sounds simple, but this is an offense that, in years prior, had no qualms about hunting on second-and-10. We can't anymore. We got to take our vegetables, we gotta eat our vegetables, and get into a third and manageable, like this right here."

Then, he looks at how improved downfield verticality allowed Texas to open up opportunities for yards after the catch, starting from at or behind the line of scrimmage, especially through wide receiver Ryan Wingo. Wingo finished with five receptions for 184 yards, proving to be a vital source of explosiveness for an offense that was in desperate need of it.

Austin moves on to highlighting how Manning's "scar tissue" from dirty pockets has led him to pull the ball and scramble more often than probably needed. On the example shown in the redzone, Manning had a touchdown to tight end Nick Townsend on a crosser, but chose to prematurely use his legs. It is a tendency Austin said can oftentimes be seen in young quarterbacks who have been hit a lot -- in fact, he does not fault Manning for stepping up with his legs because of what has happened to him in the pocket so far this season.

Still, the missed touchdown proved costly in that moment for Texas, as kicker Mason Shipley missed a 29-yard field goal to keep Mississippi State's lead at two scores.

On the second drive of the third quarter, Austin identifies the third-and-two incompletion to wide receiver Emmett Mosley V as Manning's "last miss of the football game." It's a bad miss on a run-pass-option that Manning throws low and inside, a throw similar to many of his misses earlier in the season.

On the following drive, with another third-and-two, this time on the positive side of the field, Sarkisian called a play with deep route concepts that Manning ended up getting sacked on. Austin questions Texas' decision to "hunt a chunk" on this play, considering the down and distance as well as the situation.

"The coach will say, 'Brooksy, why don't you shut up. I had six in pass protection, we ought to be able to execute.' Ya, but coach we haven't up until this point," Austin said.

After this, however, Texas never again failed to score points on an offensive drive.

The rest of regulation

On the next drive, Austin looks at a dart from Manning that he threw "so early and so firm," before Mosley IV had even broken back towards him in the route. That throw got the drive rolling on a first-and-10 and seemed to set the tone for the rest of his game.

On Manning's 62-yard bomb to Wingo on third-and-10 a few plays later, Austin states that it was the "quarterback winning, not the system," with designed route concepts that go way beyond the first-down marker again. Manning executed the deep ball after evading the pocket, showcasing his impressive arm talent that Austin says he needs to more consistently display. It was a play that Austin explained was the reasoning for people buying the stock on Manning, beyond just the expectations that come with his last name.

Manning followed that throw up with an on-the-run "one-spot dot" to wide receiver Parker Livingstone in the rightmost part of the endzone. In a "must-have situation," Manning delivered a ball into the only location it could fit to add seven points to the scoreboard.

After Mississippi State responded with a quick touchdown of its own, Austin recognizes the next four or five plays as those that defined Manning's football game.

On a third-and-three with just under 12 minutes left to play, now down 17 again, Manning took a massive shot to let Texas get to a fourth-and-one rather than a fourth-and-long.

"This doesn't happen unless (No.) 16 is a lunatic inside this pocket," Austin said. "Again, nothing changed for this kid. Nothing got better. The system didn't get better. The protection didn't get better. He started finding ways to win within it."

Texas and Manning were bailed out on a roughing-the-passer call on that fourth down, but it was another exemplification of Manning's toughness in the face of Mississippi State's pressure.

As Texas drove down the field, Manning got the ball out well and gave his pass-catchers a "chance to win." That applied to the 21-yard touchdown to Mosley, when the Longhorns used the threat of a Wingo screen to sneak Mosley down the boundary for a score.

"Do you all see how it works together?" Austin said. "You gotta be able to do one thing to open up another. We gotta accomplish one task to open up the part of the offense that we really are hunting for in regards to explosives."

On the succeeding drive, Texas earned attackable counts and converted. Manning completed a 12-yard out-route to wide receiver DeAndre Moore Jr. on third-and-four and then a 15-yard play-action dump-off to running back Quintervion Wisner on third-and-one.

A drop by Wingo at almost the five-yard line ultimately forced Texas to take its three, but Shipley's kick got it down to one score. Minutes later, gadget weapon Ryan Niblett worked his magic on a punt return to tie things up.

And with that, the contest headed to overtime.

Manning's final play of the game

Austin views Manning's decision to take off and run on the first play of overtime as the right decision. Yet, what he did not view as the right decision was avoiding the slide in favor of fighting for extra yardage.

"I know it's overtime, I know we're going to compete," Austin said. "But we don't need to do this ... When we're trying to be a competitive runner, we're no longer protected by the (quarterback hit) rules. So we need to get our butt down, or else we're going to take shots like that."

That last shot on Manning resulted in his concussion and his uncertain status for the upcoming showdown with Vanderbilt in Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium.

Backup Matthew Caldwell stepped up to the moment in Manning's absence, throwing a fade to Mosley IV for the game winner. Caldwell may be in a position to get the start versus the Commodores, but after what Austin's seen, no matter how Caldwell plays on Saturday, this is Manning's football team.

"If I watched my young quarterback go through what they've been going through for six-seven weeks and then I watched him click like that amidst all the chaos, there is no way that's not his football team," Austin said. "(Manning's performance is) the type of stuff that invigorates a roster."