Will Arch Manning get benched? Explaining Texas QB depth chart as Steve Sarkisian's offense falls apart originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
Despite entering the season with high expectations, Texas quarterback Arch Manning's season has gone less than ideally. Before the month of November, Texas has already has two losses to Oklahoma and Florida, and Manning has struggled to stay an efficient passer.
As Texas prepares to play one of its biggest tests of the season in No. 7 Ole Miss at home, the Longhorns have reportedly given an uptick of first-teams reps to Manning's backup, KJ Lacey
Here's a look at the quarterback situation in Austin, and see if there's a real possibility that the former five-star Manning will get benched.
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Will Arch Manning get benched?
It would be one of the most shocking developments in college football this season if so. For now, it appears as though Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian is not planning on benching Manning for the time being. He has six turnovers so far this year, including a game-sealing fumble against the Gators. Sark is at least publicly saying that his quarterback has to play better.
“Arch can play better for us,” Sarkisian told reporters at his weekly press conference ahead of Ole Miss. “He’s our starter. But I need to see a better version of Arch Manning, like I need to see a better version of a lot of guys on our offensive football team right now. But we need to see a better version of him this week.”
ESPN's Pete Thamel also reported that the Longhorns are expected to "give an uptick" in first-team reps in practice to Manning's backup, KJ Lacey Jr.
But according to Anwar Richardson of Orangebloods.com, it would take a particularly rough performance from Manning for Sark to bench him. Richardson added that it does not appear Manning is on as a short leash as those think ahead of the Ole Miss game.
Arch Update: Arch Manning is unlikely to be benched against Ole Miss unless he has a really poor performance.
— Orangebloods.com (@orangebloods_) October 20, 2026
"I was told that it would take a “sh—ty performance” against Ole Miss for Texas football coach Steve Sarkisian to bench Manning. Sarkisian and his staff are trying to… pic.twitter.com/oeXS6hAAZl
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Who is Arch Manning's backup?
Manning's backup is Karle "KJ" Lacey Jr., who is a sophomore this season for Texas. Per the 247Sports Composite, Lacey was a four-star quarterback prospect from the class of 2025, ranked as the No. 14 overall quarterback in his class. He is from Saraland, Ala., which sits just outside of Mobile, and was the No. 11 overall player from his home state. He was also Manning's backup last season.
Across his two seasons at Texas, he has thrown eight passes for 70 yards, rushing for another three yards on two carries. Per his MaxPreps profile, he threw for 9,883 yards with 123 touchdowns and 20 interceptions across four seasons. He rushed for 157 yards and 11 touchdowns on the ground.
Texas QB depth chart
| QB | Player | Year |
| No. 1 | Arch Manning | Junior |
| No. 2 | KJ Lacey | Sophomore |
| No. 3 | Dia Bell | Freshman |
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Steve Sarkisian on benching Arch Manning
After the game against Florida, Sark did not say that he would outright bench Manning, but that his staff was going to evaluate "everything," which includes at quarterback.
Steve Sarkisian on if Arch Manning is part of everything that will be evaluated:
— Bob Ballou (@BobBallouSports) October 17, 2026
"Everything means everything."
Steve Sarkisian is asked if he thought about replacing Arch Manning:
— Inside Texas (@InsideTexas) October 17, 2026
"We're not playing good offensive football right now, so everything is going to be evaluated."
But a couple of days later, Sark also told reporters that he had a good quarterback with Manning heading into the Ole Miss game.
"I had a good meeting with Arch yesterday," Sark said. "He came out today [and] he's got a chip on his shoulder, and I appreciated it. I liked it."
If Sarkisian does end up benching Manning, it would likely need to be if the quarterback has multiple—meaning three or four—turnovers. If the game gets out of hand quickly and Texas' offense struggles mightily against Ole Miss, that could also prompt Sark to make a change.
But it would be a decision that the head coach would not take lightly. Benching Manning would also be an indictment on Sark's own ability to develop quarterbacks. Manning's decision to go to Texas was also reportedly also largely rooted in wanting to be developed into an NFL quarterback.
Sarkisian's only other quarterback at Texas who went to the NFL was Quinn Ewers, who was drafted in the seventh round of the 2025 NFL Draft by the Miami Dolphins. He is currently Trevor Lawrence's backup in Jacksonville. During his first season in Austin in 2021, Texas finished 5-7. Sarkisian inherited two quarterbacks in Hudson Card and Casey Thompson. Both went undrafted in the NFL, but neither of them were actually recruited by Sark.
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