Benching Arch Manning Would Not Fix What Ails Texas

Two weeks ago, Texas was the No. 1 team in the country and Arch Manning was still riding the glow of a Heisman moment. Now, the Longhorns are 4-2 after back-to-back three-point losses to Oklahoma and Florida, and Manning is hearing the word nobody in Austin wanted to say out loud, which is backup.

Steve Sarkisian, the Texas head coach, did not calm anyone down after the 27-24 home loss to Florida on Saturday. Asked whether a quarterback change was on the table, he gave the kind of answer that keeps talk radio busy for a week.

“We’re not playing good offensive football right now, so everything is going to be evaluated,” Sarkisian said after the game. “Everything means everything.”

What Arch Manning Has actually done this season

Before anyone grabs the pitchforks, the full picture deserves a look. Manning has 1,295 passing yards, 11 touchdowns, and five interceptions through six games, and his yards per game have dropped from 243.3 last season to 215.8, per Bleacher Report. Those are not disaster numbers, but they are a long way from the guy who led the 24-23 comeback against Ohio State in September.

The Florida game was a strange one. Manning completed 14 of 20 passes for 173 yards, and one of those throws was a 62-yard strike to Emmett Mosley V that set up his touchdown pass to Cam Coleman.

The trouble was everything in between, because the ESPN broadcast showed him averaging negative 0.7 air yards per completion heading into the fourth quarter, per the game recap. In plain English, Texas was throwing the ball sideways and behind the line of scrimmage while Florida scored 24 straight points.

Then came the ending that will stick with him. With Texas down three and about two minutes left, Manning lost a fumble on second-and-8 from the Texas 48, and Florida ran out the clock. One week earlier, he threw for 260 yards and three touchdowns against Oklahoma but also threw two interceptions, including a 42-yard pick-six that swung the game.

So the honest read is that Arch Manning has been decent for most of these two games and costly on three plays, and in two three-point losses, three plays can change the whole story.

Why the KJ Lacey talk is mostly a message

ESPN’s Pete Thamel reported Monday that KJ Lacey Jr., a four-star quarterback from the 2025 class, is expected to get more first-team reps. Lacey has thrown nine passes for 70 yards in two seasons, so this is not a battle between two proven starters. Sarkisian also told reporters Monday that Manning remains the starter, and he noted that Lacey works with the first team every week.

Put those two things side by side, and the picture gets clearer. The possibility of more Lacey reps feels like a coach poking his star with a stick, telling him that the job is his but the leash is shorter than it was in August. A coach who truly wanted a change would not announce Manning as the starter on the same day.

Manning, to his credit, did not run from it after the Florida loss.

“Yeah, I mean everyone is evaluated every week,” Manning said after the game. “That’s how it is when you go to a school like this. Everyone’s gotta get better and it starts with me.”

Some loud voices think it is time to bench him, and the frustration makes sense when a roster this talented loses twice in a row. But benching Arch Manning for a quarterback with nine career attempts would not fix an offense that cannot push the ball downfield. It would just move the blame to a younger player. Five sacks and 99 rushing yards against Florida were not all on Manning.

Ole Miss will decide how loud this gets

The schedule gives Texas no time to breathe. Ole Miss, ranked No. 7, comes to Austin on Saturday, and the Longhorns are expected to be without Colin Simmons, the nation’s sack leader, after he suffered a high ankle sprain against Florida.

If Manning plays a clean game and Texas wins, the Lacey talk dies by Sunday morning. If Texas loses a third straight game and Manning turns it over late again, those extra practice reps will start looking a lot less like a message and a lot more like a plan.

Texas lost to Oklahoma by three and to Florida by three, and the difference between 6-0 and 4-2 came down to two fourth-quarter interceptions and one late fumble. Those plays belong to Manning, but a passing attack averaging negative air yards per completion entering the fourth quarter belongs to the coaches who drew it up.