"It's over" for Arch Manning this year, Paul Finebaum declares

Perhaps next year Arch Manning will be a good quarterback, but for right now Paul Finebaum is throwing in the towel on the uber-hyped Texas Longhorns star.

"It's over" for Arch Manning this year, Paul Finebaum has warned. | Ken Ruinard / staff, The Greenville News via Imagn Content Services, LLC

No college football player had been hyped up as much as Arch Manning coming into the 2025 season, and now one of the most prominent voices behind that hype is throwing in the towel.

Paul Finebaum has seen enough of the Texas Longhorns quarterback through three games to officially jump off the bandwagon. For this season, at least.

“Listen, I’m not bright but I’m not the stupidest person on the face of the earth. I’m out, okay? Count me out,” Finebaum said on SportsCenter.

“I gave it a shot. It blew up. I like Arch. He’s going to be a great player someday, maybe some year, but not this year. It’s over. Come on. You can’t look at three weeks and find a way to the front row in New York. So, nice knowing you, Arch. See you soon.”

Manningpalooza got off to an ugly start after he passed for just 170 yards, most of those in the fourth quarter, in his hugely-anticipated debut at Ohio State in the season opener.

Texas was No. 1 in the preseason for the first time ever and eagerly awaiting what Manning would look like on the big stage, only to be disappointed by a series of mistimed and inaccurate throws, questionable decision making, and a costly turnover.

Then came a better showing in a 38-7 win over San Jose State in which he accounted for 5 total touchdowns, but questions lingered around his pass selections even then, and even some viral injury rumors after video emerged of him wincing when making throws.

Manning was 11 of 25 passing for 114 yards in a tepid 17-point win over UTEP this past weekend, a sluggish effort that even saw Texas home fans booing the quarterback during the first half of play.

The quarterback threw 10 straight incompletions and he was intercepted in the end zone after a long scramble on 4th & 3 when he threw a pass across his body while running.

“I felt like he pressed some. He knew he missed some throws,” Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian said of Manning’s performance.

“I feel like we’ve done enough with him to have a pretty good understanding of who he is as a player and what he’s capable of. I know there’s a lot of football in him that’s high-level football.”

A lot of the endless preseason fanfare around Manning doubtless had to do with his famous surname and the family tree of quarterbacks that came before him.

But most recruiting analysts had seen enough to name Manning a five-star player and the near-consensus No. 1 overall prospect in the nation, adding to the near-constant attention that surrounded the quarterback and even saw many of his high school games broadcast nationally.

That said, not everybody was on board the Manning train early on. 

Mike Farrell, the veteran self-styled godfather of recruiting, was a lone voice some three years ago right after Manning made his college commitment, suggesting that the player was overrated and that his name was the reason for all the attention.

“If his last name wasn’t Manning, he would be a three-star,” Farrell said in 2022.

Many would argue that Manning is playing like a three-star quarterback and that the Texas offense is not fit for a run at the SEC championship right now.

That can change in the future, and Manning’s first chance to change the narrative comes next weekend against Sam Houston State before the SEC schedule opens up at Florida.

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