In trying to shield Arch Manning, Steve Sarkisian may have gone too far. So much so, what should have been natural support turned into something that came off as strained and heavy-handed. After their face-off with San Jose State, Manning’s wincing after some throws was visible, raising injury concerns. But Sarkisian slammed down the concerns, making it clear during the post-game presser, “He doesn’t have any,” followed by dishing out an inappropriate comment for the reporter. And after Manning’s ugly feat against the UTEP Miners, we now know the truth. That’s when a college football analyst held Sarkisian responsible for the quarterback’s fate.
After their latest feat, Sarkisian commented on Manning’s struggles, “For the most part, it’s all mental.” The quarterback completed 11 of 25 passes for 114 yards, a touchdown, and an interception. So, obviously, the Longhorns lacked the rhythm in the passing game. But maybe the damage is already done. Sarkisian shouldn’t have covered Manning in the first place; that’s what analyst Danny Kannell believes.
In the September 15th episode of the Cover 3 Podcast, Kannell did not mince his words, stating, “He looks like somebody who is really, really struggling. I wish personally I actually would feel better about it if Sark had said last week instead of his little press conference where he went off, on the media. I would have felt better if he said, ‘You know what, he’s dealing with something. He’s got a sore shoulder. He’s got a sore rib.’ Anything than saying there aren’t any issues instead of what you saw now with a healthy Arch Manning.”
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Sarkisian lacked transparency and didn’t properly communicate what was going on. Along with this, he kind of fell under some pressure to play Manning instead of benching him. After all, benching a highly hyped QB like Manning against a weaker team like UTEP might have turned them into a laughingstock. Kannell then compared Manning to other highly hyped athletes like NBA stars Markelle Fultz and Ben Simmons. They, too, were expected to dominate but faced struggles largely due to confidence and mental blocks rather than physical ability.
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Now, if Sarkisian thinks that he got his own sweet time to figure things out about Manning, here came a wake-up call. “There is something this is a greater problem that Sark has one week to figure out, and I don’t know if you can solve it in one week. He has got to get Arch to play more free, to get him to go out there and play with confidence,” noted Kannell. Meanwhile, Manning could no longer keep things to himself and opened up about his mental struggles.
Arch Manning is no longer hiding the truth
Sports anchor Cory Mose shared a clip from Manning’s post-game interview. And given his current trend, reporters are no longer in a position to glorify the quarterback. So, the question for him was straightforward, asking Manning if struggles are more mental or physical. Unlike his head coach, he did not try to hide the reality. Instead admitted, “Probably mental, to be honest. Like, I think I just need to go out there and play my game. I know the type of athlete and type of player I am. Just go cut it loose and have some fun, play ball.”
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Another analyst, too, did not inch back before dragging Sarkisian into the conversation about Manning hitting a slump. ESPN’s Scott Van Pelt made a sarcastic comment on a podcast. He said, “Speaking of quarterbacks, that week one loss on the road, Sark says you can’t be a quarterback till you get booed off the field. So now Arch Manning’s a quarterback.” Well, the booing game at the Darrell K Royal Texas Memorial Stadium got louder seeing Manning’s ugly performance against UTEP.