If you had heard the amount of boos raining down from the stands at DKR-Texas Memorial Stadium on Saturday, you would've thought the Texas Longhorns were losing badly to UTEP at halftime. That wasn't the case, however.
Texas held a 14-3 lead at the break but it was young quarterback Arch Manning's poor performance that had Longhorn fans knotted up. The 21 year old was 5-for-16 with just 69 yards passing in the first half and threw 10 consecutive incompletions at one point.
"I know the type of player that I am," Manning told reporters on Monday. "I know I'm going to play better and we're going to be better as an offense."
Arch Manning is holding himself accountable and that's all Texas fans can ask for
Despite winning the game 27-10, Texas seemingly disappointed the entire fanbase by not crushing UTEP like other top programs against smaller teams. Manning recognized he didn't live up to the standard expected of him and took some refreshing accountability.
"It's frustrating because I know I'm better than that," he continued. "But you know, we're going to be better this week and get clicking on offense. I'm excited to get going."
Rather than making any excuses or throwing his teammates under the bus, Manning understands only he can control how he rebounds from these difficulties. Head coach Steve Sarkisian thinks this chapter is only going to strengthen his QB going forward.
"I think you learn a lot about yourself through adversity and overcoming adversity," Sarkisian said Monday. "To have some of this adversity that he has right now, and when he gets on the other side of it, I think all of this is going to serve not only well for him but well for us as a team. Love the challenge for him."
Texas fans need to relax. Manning is in his first year as a starter and has shown no indication he'll leave for the NFL next spring. He's got plenty of time to develop and still could hit his stride this season.
Seeing him take accountability is just the first step in that journey. There's a reason he was so heavily recruited, outside of his family name, and giving him time to develop is only going to benefit the program. Just imagine what he'll do once he's learned from this rough period and knows how to handle difficult game situations like those he's run into this year. This is only the start for Arch.