Kirk Herbstreit believes both Arch Manning and Texas will be fine following a disappointing start to the regular season. There’s been plenty of reactions from fans and media alike after the Longhorns’ 14-7 loss to Ohio State to open the year, with some suggesting Manning may not be cut out for the big stage.
Herbstreit, however, put things into perspective on the call of Monday night’s game between North Carolina and TCU. The ESPN analyst defended Manning, noting how tough of an environment he played in during his first game as the true leader of the offense. That also has to play a factor when evaluating his performance, and Herbstreit believes the QB will be just fine.
“With Arch Manning, I think they’ll have a chance to get back,” Herbsteit said. “That was a tough ask to go into Ohio Stadium, defending national champs, with a quarterback who had a couple starts last year, but this was his first ‘It’s his team now’ kind of moment against a really athletic Ohio State defense with Matt Patricia. But they’ll go back. They’ll learn from that. I think Texas is gonna be fine. Tough schedule in the SEC, but I think at the end of the day, they still be a team that’s gonna end up making the playoff.”
Manning completed 17 of his 30 passes for 170 yards, a touchdown, and an interception. Most of his production came late in the game when things began to click a little for the Longhorns, who didn’t score their first touchdown until the fourth quarter.
Texas will close out the conference with a few games against lower level opponents before opening up SEC play on Oct. 4 against Florida. Perhaps that can give Manning and the offense a chance to get into a bit of a rhythm before taking on the grueling SEC schedule that Herbstreit alluded to.
Kirk Herbstreit wasn’t alone in his belief in Arch Manning either. FOX Sports analyst Joel Klatt also backed up the Texas QB on his Monday show.
“I’m just telling you right now – zero panic for Arch Manning and the Texas Longhorns. Zero. They are going to be just fine,” Klatt said. “Did he play great? No. Did he throw the ball accurately? No. Did he make a lot of poor decisions? Yes. Am I worried? Absolutely not. Texas is going to be just fine.”
We’ll see whether Manning can turn things around and live up to the potential many have hyped him up to have. Texas next kicks off against San Jose State at 11 a.m. CT on Saturday.
