Arch Manning Forced into Tough Self-Assessment as Steve Sarkisian Left Upset with Texas Locker Room

Did the Arch Madness make it to the week 2 mania? If you ask the ‘Hook’em’ fandom, yes. Slashing through the criticism, scrutiny, and loads of hate, which saw him at rock bottom in the Heisman list and his NIL stock post week 1, Arch Manning‘s legacy stared down the trenches against San Jose State. Week 1 saw Steve Sarkisian‘s QB missing on simple throws and interceptions, but this weekend, Manning burned with determination. So, was he able to turn the narrative?

Kind of. The Longhorns reigned in the trenches with a 38-7 win. Manning completed 19/30 passes for 295 yards, four touchdowns, and one interception. But the offense buckled, yet again. Tallying 12 penalties for 115 yards, with the eight penalties just for 70 yards, Austin witnessed another messy match-up. “I want to make sure that what he’s hard on himself about is the right thing that he’s hard on himself about,” Sarkisian said of Arch Manning post-game on Saturday.

The penalties were high, 12 to be exact, costing them 115 yards. And Sarkisian is cracking down on the discipline. “My foot’s got to get in their b–t here on Monday morning, like that’s unacceptable, and there’s a standard with which we want to play the game, and 12 penalties does not meet that standard,” the head coach said.

And they piled up since the first play at the line of scrimmage. A holding penalty on WR Parker Livingston cost 17 yards for field position, after WR DeAndre Moore‘s 23-yard gain push pass. On the defense, Colin Simmons received two more: an offside and a roughing the passer penalty. A holding penalty on guard DJ Campbell took away the 34-yard gain. Spilling into the fourth quarter, the Longhorns were flagged for holding an illegal shift, a false start, and an illegal substitution. And more.

“It’s like anything — you go into a season, you have high expectations of being the player that you want to become, and when things don’t start going your way, you can press,” said Coach Sark, talking about the high penalties. “I feel like he’s pressed a little bit at times, and we just need him to settle down and play within his ability, play within the structure the defense, and the plays are going to come for him.”

Although they won dominantly against San Jose, these mistakes might cost them dearly against challenging opponents. And they did. The Longhorns were penalized six times for 50 yards. Last year as well, they averaged 6.4 penalties and 51.8 penalty yards per game. A major shift from week 1’s narrative, but there’s still room for a lot of growth.

Arch Manning is not satisfied with his performance against San Jose

“I hold myself to a high standard,” Arch Manning said this past week about his Week 1 performance. “I’ve got to play better, got to lead more, got to get our guys to play well around me, and ultimately I wasn’t good enough.” Was he able to make amends this time? Surely, as compared to last game’s one TD, he tallied five touchdowns and 295 passing yards, dominating the trenches. But Arch is not satisfied with his performance.

“Sloppy on my part,” Manning said. “Can’t turn the ball over in the red area. I made a few more plays (than against Ohio State) but once again wasn’t very efficient,” he added. The high penalty got Sarkisian all riled up, but as he put it, Arch played aggressively; he played more in his style. The head coach further added that “Today was a byproduct of the week of work,” and Arch did well on using his arm strength to extend plays. Arch’s next goal? “I’ve got to continue to get better.“