The Texas Longhorns are entering a new era, one that fans have been anticipating and calling for for quite some time. Arch Manning officially takes over as the starting quarterback for the Longhorns after Quinn Ewers declared for the NFL Draft. With that, Texas will see if Manning can live up to the hype with a full season of reps and if he can bring the program their first national title since 2005.
Manning was recruited heavily as a high school quarterback, and fans waited for years to see him compete in a college football game. Not to mention, he's already being touted as a top quarterback prospect in the NFL, whenever he does declare for the draft. With the anticipation and hype come expectations. As is the case with any top athlete, they will have a huge group of detractors.
ESPN and College GameDay host Rece Davis said that while Manning is popular, he believes the Texas quarterback will be college football's biggest villain.
“Here’s what I think that’s going to happen with Arch, and it’s unfortunate — because of the attention he’s going to get, he’s going to become a fan-favorite to those outside of Texas, and to others outside of Texas, he’s going to be the ultimate villain, and I don’t just mean Oklahoma people. It’s like the analogy that I use if you start hyping up a restaurant or a movie or a TV show, when you keep saying how great it is and how exciting it is and you cannot miss this, it is the cynical human nature of many to start rooting against it. That’s going to happen with Arch,” Davis said, h/t On3 Sports.
Rece Davis believes Arch Manning will be college football's biggest villain
Davis continued, saying that everything Manning does will be amplified, both positively and negatively. Yet, Davis believes that since he is from the Manning family, he will be able to handle the constant attention and criticism.
“The family genes would indicate he’s going to be able to handle it just fine. Kind of a smirk and a wink.," said Davis. "…He has personality. He kind of understands how this is. He’s seen how his family commands attention and how they’ve responded to it. He’s still young. I mean, I’m sure he’s going to have his moments, both on the field and off, that will be frustrating. But I think on the outside there’s going to be all of this hubbub about him, ‘See, he’s no good. See, he’s the greatest Manning of them all.’ You know, all of those things. I figure that Arch is just going to keep playing, keep cracking jokes and keep throwing touchdowns. I think he’s gonna be outstanding, and I think he’ll handle it emotionally just fine.”
Manning will have a full offseason to take first-team reps. Longhorns fans and fanatics of college football got to see some playing time. This past season, Manning played in 10 games, but two of those were starts after Ewers missed time due to an abdominal injury. Manning did his part, leading the Longhorns to two wins in those starts.
Manning finished this past season throwing for 939 yards, nine touchdowns, and two interceptions while completing 67.8 percent of his passes. Manning also ran for 108 yards and four touchdowns on 25 carries.
Texas officially opens up their season on Aug. 30 against the defending CFP National champions, the Ohio State Buckeyes. In his first start of the 2025 season, Manning will face a true test being on the road at Ohio Stadium. Expect there to be many declarations made on Manning from fans, especially if he has an off-game.