Arch Manning proves Texas is lucky he didn’t hit the transfer portal

Texas would like the college football world to know it's back. An appearance in the College Football Playoff last season is certainly a step in the right direction but can it be sustained?

Enter Arch Manning. The 6-foot-4 redshirt freshman, nephew to multi-time Super Bowl-winning quarterbacks Peyton and Eli Manning, showed Longhorn fans that the program does, in fact, seem to be back.

Arch Manning scores first college football TD, then does it again for Texas

Starter Quinn Ewers was pulled in the third quarter of Texas' 52-0 blowout victory over Colorado State on Saturday and Manning took over passing duties for the remainder of the game.

The 19-year-old had an immediate impact, tossing his first collegiate touchdown pass to Oregon State transfer Silas Bolden, extending Texas' lead to 45-0 toward the end of the third quarter and giving Longhorns fans even more faith in their high-profile backup.

Manning went 5-for-6, throwing for 95 yards in his short yet impressive appearance. The youngster also displayed his leg strength, powering for a quarterback sneak on the goal line for his second score of the day. Even better, it came on a do-or-die fourth-and-goal play to really pour it on the Rams in this game.

Manning likely won't see the field in a full-time role, barring an injury, until next season as this year will be Ewers' last chance to bring a title home to Austin before probably heading to the NFL Draft.

That doesn't mean Manning won't have his fair share of coaches attempting to lure him to their programs via the transfer portal, though he's resisted that according to every report and comment on the matter to this point. But Longhorn fans, rest easy, today's performance should give head coach Steve Sarkisian every confidence that Manning is the future of Texas football, which is what the young signal-caller wants to be by all accounts.