Steve Sarkisian Defends Both Arch Manning and DJ Lagway From Early Season Criticisms

Texas Longhorns head coach Steve Sarkisian gives candid responses on unprecedented expectations placed on college football's high-profile players.

Texas Longhorns head coach Steve Sarkisian watches his team against Ohio State Buckeyes during the first quarter. / Kyle Robertson/USA TODAY Network via Imagn Images

The Texas Longhorns should be well rested as they received the weekend off with their first bye week of the season, and get the chance to start the middle part of the season on the right foot as they take on the reeling 1-3 Florida Gators in Gainesville on Oct. 4.

Both teams head into their SEC opener coming off a bye week, with both squads trending in two completely different directions. As the Longhorns find themselves 3-1, while struggling at times through the first part of the season, and for the Gators, it's been tough sledding after tough losses as they head into their daunting conference schedule.

One of the biggest points of the matchup will be the two young signal callers under center in Longhorns starting quarterback Arch Manning and Gators, starting quarterback DJ Lagway, both of whom have struggled through the early weeks of the season and played less than expected after many preseason predictions had both quarterbacks believed to be two of the top quarterbacks in college football.

Sarkisian speaks on High Expectations for College Football's high-profile Players

Texas Longhorns quarterback Arch Manning (16) throws a pass during the first half against the Sam Houston Bearkats. / Scott Wachter-Imagn Images

At his media availability on Monday, Steve Sarkisian spoke at length about the number of expectations placed on college football players nowadays, which Sarkisian sees firsthand with his quarterback in Manning, who saw unprecedented media expectations over the offseason. Also including Lagway, who was seen as one of the top quarterbacks heading into 2025, and has also struggled through the first part of the season.

"I'm looking around the country at the high-profile players. I don't know if any of them are living up to what everybody said they were supposed to be," Sarkisian said. "But we're in this era right now of everybody's got a phone, so everybody's got Twitter. There's 9000 podcasts going on. The coverage over college football is more and more intense than it's ever been. And so players are getting put up on these pedestals really quickly in their careers."

"College football players are getting critiqued and criticized more now than they ever have in the past, too, and so this is a different era that we're in, and I think that we've got to do a great job as coaches of I don't want to say shelter, but we got to protect our guys and because they're not pros yet," Sarkisian added.

What does the Early part of the Season look like for Both Quarterbacks?

Manning, through the first three weeks of the season, looked completely far away from the quarterback many expected the first-year starter to be. However, his performance in the Longhorns' last game against Sam Houston State was back to the Manning people expected. Manning so far is 65 of 106 passing for 888 yards and nine passing touchdowns with three interceptions and five scores on the ground.

As for Lagway, it's been a rougher start to the second year quarterbacks' first full year as the Gators' starting quarterback, starting the season 83 of 123 passing for 690 yards and five touchdowns while struggling in limiting turnovers with six interceptions, five of which came in the loss to LSU. However, Sarkisian understands the abilities of Lagway and the scheme the Gators run.

"What I do know is the competitor and the talent is still in there, and so we better be mindful, and better be ready to get the best version of DJ Lagway," Sarkisian said. "They just maybe haven't been hitting them here in the first few games, but they're gonna attack us, and they're gonna attack us down the field multiple shifts, motions, and things, and so you got to do a great job stopping the run, but we better be, cautious and aware of them throwing the ball down the field."

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