College Football HQ

Heisman Trophy index: Arch Manning finally dominates against Sam Houston

Longhorns QB put together his best game yet against unranked opponent
Khari Demos|
Texas Longhorns quarterback Arch Manning.
Texas Longhorns quarterback Arch Manning. | Scott Wachter-Imagn Images

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Texas Longhorns

Don’t look now, but Arch Manning is getting himself back into relevancy. Does that mean he’s all the way back in the Heisman Trophy race? Not necessarily.

But Saturday’s showing was Manning’s best yet in a young 2025 season.

Manning and No. 10 Texas smothered Sam Houston State to get to 3-1 in non-conference play. The QB prodigy was able to go 18 for 21 with 309 passing yards and three touchdown passes, to go along with two rushing scores.

Although it hasn’t looked pretty at times, Manning has quietly pieced together a good statistical start to the season. He’s generated 14 total TDs (nine passing, five rushing) and has a three-to-one touchdown-to-interception ratio.

Considering this weekend’s performance, Manning has at least gotten himself back into the mix for Heisman consideration.

What was most encouraging about the performance was that Manning seemed to be in rhythm, and his accuracy was much improved. His legs have always been a major part of his game, but it was encouraging to see how well he played from the pocket and found his targets outside.

On the other hand, what some showed concern over was the fact that Manning was doing a lot of “flexing” against an unranked non-conference opponent who now sits at 0-4 and has allowed at least 37 points in each game this fall.

It’s encouraging to see Manning making plays like we expected him to do as a five-star QB recruit. And it’s great to see that he looks even healthier than he did in moments against San Jose State earlier in the month.

But it’ll be interesting to see if he can maintain that same level of swagger once the competition ramps up.

The remainder of the Longhorns’ slate contains SEC opponents. And depending on how Manning operates against them will determine whether or not he can actually get back into the Heisman race.

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Khari Demos
KHARI DEMOS

Khari Demos is an award-winning sports media creator and is a contributor for Bills On SI. He has written sports betting article covering the NFL for The Athletic and has written pieces about the NBA, MLB, college football and basketball, and more, throughout his career.

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