The Texas Longhorns have gone from No. 1 in the country to No. 19 in just two weeks, with quarterback Arch Manning taking much of the criticism for their slide.
Back-to-back losses to Oklahoma and Florida have brought questions about Manning’s future as the starter, even with Steve Sarkisian continuing to back him. But ahead of another big matchup against Ole Miss, the Texas coach is seeing something different in his quarterback.
And Sarkisian has a specific word for Manning’s attitude after everything that’s happened.
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Sarkisian described a more fired-up version of Manning during his Thursday media availability, per Inside Texas’ Tyler Horka.
“I would use the word edgy, and I like it,” Sarkisian said. “He’s edgy right now. And I think that somebody texted me today that we lost the ‘Aw Shucks’ kid and we created something else. I don’t know if we lost him. We created this. We did. All of us. Y’all included. Me. The whole thing, right. Everybody on ESPN, we’ve created this. And so we’ll see what comes out of it.”
Sarkisian finished with saying, “At some point, he’s gotta fight back.”
For Sarkisian, that response needs to show up in Manning’s play, particularly with No. 7 Ole Miss coming to Austin on Saturday.
Texas has lost two straight games by identical 27-24 scores. Against Oklahoma on Oct. 10, Manning completed 19 of 31 passes for 260 yards and three touchdowns, but also threw two interceptions. One came in the final seconds and helped set up the Sooners’ game-winning field goal.
A week later, Manning went 14-of-20 for 173 yards and a touchdown against Florida. He didn’t throw an interception, but his late fumble ended Texas’ chance to tie or win the game.
Texas scored only 17 points on offense against Florida, with its other touchdown coming on a 63-yard punt return by Ryan Niblett. Manning also took five sacks, while the Longhorns managed just 13 first downs and converted only two of their 10 third-down attempts.
Those mistakes have helped put the Longhorns at 4-2 overall and 1-2 in SEC play.
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Despite the criticism, Sarkisian isn’t turning the offense over to backup KJ Lacey Jr. On Monday, he reaffirmed Manning as the starter, though he made clear that better quarterback play is needed.
Speaking to reporters after the Florida loss, Sarkisian said he had met with Manning the following day and liked the attitude he brought to practice. Inside Texas’ Evan Vieth reported that Sarkisian saw a chip on Manning’s shoulder, a sign the quarterback was taking the criticism personally.
That came as ESPN reported Lacey was expected to receive more work with the first-team offense. Sarkisian pushed back on the suggestion that this represented a significant change, explaining that Lacey already gets first-team practice reps each week.
Through six games, Manning has completed 63.9% of his passes for 1,295 yards, 11 touchdowns and five interceptions. His production hasn’t prevented the turnovers that have hurt Texas in its last two games, and the Longhorns have dropped from the top spot in the rankings after entering October unbeaten.
Saturday’s game also has a family connection for Manning. His grandfather Archie and uncle Eli both starred at Ole Miss, giving the matchup another layer of attention. But with Texas trying to avoid a third consecutive loss, the bigger question is whether the different attitude Sarkisian has seen in practice carries over to game day.
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