Texas HC Steve Sarkisian Hints He’s Open to Benching QB Arch Manning

Texas has dropped two straight games and its No. 1 ranking, and its head coach won’t promise quarterback Arch Manning will keep starting.

The Texas Longhorns fell to the Florida Gators by three points on Oct. 17 in Austin, and Steve Sarkisian didn’t rule out a change afterward, according to the Austin American-Statesman’s Danny Davis.

Asked whether he’d consider a switch under center, Sarkisian pointed at the entire offense.

“I just felt like we didn’t play good offensive football and we’re not playing great offensive football right now. So everything is going to be evaluated,” he said.

A follow-up asked if that covered Manning’s job. “Everything means everything,” Sarkisian answered.

He wouldn’t pin the loss on one player, either. “It would be easy for me to say, ‘Hey, Arch was the problem today.’ Was Arch perfect? No. But nobody was perfect on offense today,” Sarkisian said.

Texas ran just 50 offensive plays, its fewest under Sarkisian. The Gators got to Manning for five sacks, and he threw for 173 yards with one touchdown before a late sack-fumble sealed the upset.

The slide began a week earlier, when Manning was picked off twice in the fourth quarter of a 27-24 Red River Rivalry loss to Oklahoma. Texas hadn’t lost before that game.

ESPN Research found Texas is only the third program since 1936 to hold the AP poll’s top spot and then lose two in a row to unranked teams. The Longhorns had beaten 22 straight unranked visitors at home before Florida.

Sarkisian calls the plays, so his own work is under review, too. “We’re going to evaluate everything from an offensive perspective. Part of that is playcalling,” he said.

The nephew of Peyton and Eli Manning has earned millions in NIL money and was recently the betting favorite to go first overall in the 2027 NFL Draft. ProFootballTalk suggested that if K.J. Lacey takes over, Manning would likely spend another season in college, perhaps at another school.

Whatever the review produces, it’ll play out at home. Mississippi visits Austin next.