The 2025 season was supposed to be about Arch Manning’s arrival in the spotlight so as to continue the Manning legacy. The most hyped recruit in college football history finally got his chance to run the show at Texas. Instead, what we’ve gotten is a pretty rough reality check. The redshirt sophomore opened the year with a brutal 14-7 loss to Ohio State, where he completed just 17 of 30 passes for 170 yards with one touchdown, and an interception. Things didn’t get much better against UTEP when he went 11-of-25 for 114 yards, and the home crowd at DKR-Texas Memorial Stadium actually booed him at halftime during what ended up being a 27-10 win. And today the mistakes showed up once more against the Gators as Texas lost 29-21.

At the core of Arch’s subpar performance is the turnover bug. He has now been bitten far too often to call it just a mistake and not a habit. Against San Jose State, he threw what fans dubbed “the worst interception of the 2025 season.” Then there was the deep sideline throw against OSU, which gave the defender ample amount of time to undercut. And the UTEP game brought yet another interception. Up until the Sam Houston game, he had six scores and three interceptions. Now, there are two new additions to the interceptions list in this week’s game against the Florida Gators. 

Both came in the fourth quarter. The first one was intercepted Jordan Castell and returned for 18 yds on a 2nd and long after back to back false start penalties. The second happened in the very next drive. Manning was looking for DeAndre Moore downfield, but it was Florida cornerback Devin Moore who was there to intercept the pass instead. The interception came when Texas was facing a first-and-20 situation from their own 17-yard line, backed up deep in their own territory. Manning was under pressure throughout the game, dealing with a Florida defense that had been one of the toughest in the SEC, allowing just 173 passing yards and 16 points per game coming into the matchup. The pick gave Florida excellent field position and momentum at a critical juncture, and it was just another example of Manning making a mistake when the Longhorns could not afford it. He finished the game 16-of-29 for 263 yards with two touchdowns and those two costly interceptions.

These turnovers continue to show the pattern of Manning looking rattled under pressure and failing to find his rhythm against quality SEC defenses. But to his credit, he did convert a turnover into a touchdown later in the game, connecting with Peter Livingston for 33 yards. But the damage from the picks was too much to recover from.

Arch Manning has definitely not justified the hype because the hype itself was astronomical. The nephew of Peyton and Eli Manning came to Texas with preseason Heisman buzz and endless NFL Draft speculation before he’d even started a full season as the starter. Former Texas quarterback David Ash tried to defend him on social media, writing, “As with any young quarterback, he’s on a growth journey. Out chasing perfection every day. There will be highs and lows”. But the reality is that all that attention and expectation haven’t given Manning the room to grow and make the mistakes that every young quarterback gets to make.

Fans went after Manning’s play on Social Media

The fan reactions on social media after Manning’s second interception were brutal, but honestly, they weren’t coming out of nowhere. “This is why everyone clowned him for flexing down on Sam Houston,” one fan wrote, and you can see where they’re coming from. During that game, Manning stood over a Sam Houston State defender after scoring a touchdown in a 55-0 blowout, drawing criticism for the unsportsmanlike behavior. When a player celebrates against an opponent who is undermatched and then fails to deliver against actual competition (out-of-form Florida, by the way), the internet will remember it for a long time.

The Heisman Trophy conversation was also dragged a lot in this criticism, and it’s hard not to make it about that. “He’s winning the Heisman though😂😂😂😂 according to Texas fans,” one person quipped, while another pleaded, “Get this man off the Heisman watch my goodness”. Manning entered the season as the betting favorite at +600 to win the award, but after his rough start, which included the Ohio State loss and the struggles against UTEP, those odds have plummeted to 25-1. One more fan chimed in when they came to realize that Texas’ wins were only coming because they were in the easy stretch of their schedule, “I’m just guesstimating, but Texas may not be back.”

Some of the reactions crossed the line into genuinely harsh territory, like the fan who said, “Yah, he needs to go lol he’s not meant for football but maybe track.” That’s the take that forgets Arch Manning is still just a redshirt sophomore trying to figure things out at the highest level of college football. And that’s exactly what makes this a negative feedback loop. Arch makes mistakes, fans criticize, Arch gets under more pressure, he makes more mistakes, and he gets more criticism. The only way this loop will stop is when fans realize that they have to let him be a sophomore quarterback. Allow him to make some mistakes, grow from them, and he can try to become the kind of player we expect him to be.