Texas QB Arch Manning was the talk of college football on Saturday

Arch Manning waltzed into the 2025 season as the Heisman Trophy favorite. After just one game against Ohio State, that reality faded, and a couple months of early struggles really derailed a preseason No. 1 Texas squad. However, Manning might be finding a successful formula in the back half of the regular season.

Following a bad outing in a gritty road win over Kentucky, Manning rebounded for his best performance of the season against Mississippi State, tossing for 346 yards and three touchdowns in the overtime thriller that silenced the cowbells. Returning home for the first time in 42 days, Texas and Manning put together another strong day of offense.

Against Vanderbilt, Manning was arguably even better, posting 328 passing yards while completing 25 of 33 passes. He also tacked on three more touchdowns as the Longhorns kept the Commodores at arms' reach for most of the afternoon in Austin.

With that win, you could say Manning is officially winning some folks back over. Because that's 674 passing yards and six touchdowns helping Texas score 79 combined points in back-to-back victories, while the team moves to 7-2 and is nestled right in the thick of the SEC title race with just one conference loss — and not a loss to another contender, either.

Manning puts CFB world on notice

Manning's performance was so strong Saturday, that by the end of the game, ESPN's play-by-play announcer, Sean McDonough, wondered if the fallen Heisman favorite could climb back into the race.

As Manning led a late Texas drive to prevent Vanderbilt's furious fourth quarter rally, McDonough and partner Greg McElroy were struck by Manning's excellent day.

"Arch Manning was the preseason favorite," McDonough commented. "It seems silly, predicting the Heisman Trophy race before the season starts. He's fallen completely off the board."

Manning zipped a pass to wideout DeAndre Moore for an explosive gain as McDonough went on, sparking the following comment: "He's on target again and might be reigniting candidacy with this performance," he said.

"The heat that he's taken, the bounce-back says a lot," McElroy added afterward. And they weren't the only pundits to praise the Texas quarterback's turnaround since September's stumbles.

Noted sports personality Emmanuel Acho noted on X that Manning "appears to have turned a corner" with his recent games. Then you had fans all over the app praising Manning while Barstool Sports reflected his string of good play with a Geno Smith video, where he famously says, "They wrote me off, but I ain't write them back, though."

Arch Manning

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— Barstool Sports (@barstoolsports) November 1, 2025

The hate that once surrounded Arch Manning on social media over his lackluster play is seemingly vanishing. What a crazy magic trick, and good on the kid.