Things went downhill quickly for the Texas Longhorns this season.
Texas was back (for real) after defeating then-No. 1 Ohio State in Week 2, supplanting them as the nation’s top team. However, after barely surviving against Tennessee, they lost to unranked Oklahoma before losing to unranked Florida at home. As a result, Texas will spend the rest of the season fighting to make its case for the College Football Playoff.
As for star quarterback Arch Manning, Peyton and Eli’s nephew came into the season with Heisman hype, but has disappointed with his inconsistency and lack of growth. Once a presumed No. 1 pick in the 2027 NFL Draft, he now clearly needs to stay in college for another year.
Plenty of pundits have taken Texas coach Steve Sarkisian to task over the team’s failures, including Manning’s lack of development. On Friday, Dan Orlovsky summed up those frustrations in one rant on First Take.
“It’s either, Sark doesn’t want him to play a certain way, or he is not smart enough to play a certain way.” – Dan Orlovsky on Arch Manning https://t.co/Enpr7NL79F
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) October 23, 2026
Orlovsky started by shredding Texas’s offensive game plan and how it wastes Manning’s talents.
“First of all, I love Sark, massive fan. You know what you got into bed with. He’s the head coach at Texas. You recruited Arch Manning. You’re surprised by the attention? Come on,” Orlovsky said. “What are we talking about? You led the program into the SEC. This is part of the territory.
“That being said, from a strictly football perspective, I hate Texas’s offense. I can’t stand watching it. They don’t allow Arch to play quarterback. They ask him to play thrower. Throw ball here, throw ball there, that’s it. There’s very little tools given to the quarterback. They run the same plays all the time. … It’s an offense right now that’s absolutely regressed the player.”
As for Manning himself, Orlovsky thinks it’s a foregone conclusion that his time in Texas will end this season and that it’s time to transfer somewhere where he can develop for the NFL.
“I think whatever happens this weekend, cool, I think this relationship is certainly done,” he said. “I do not believe Arch should go to the NFL. I believe Arch should leave Texas and go to a place that can adamantly develop him as a quarterback, that gives you the ability to play quarterback.”
Orlovsky added an asterisk to his comments, saying the problem is either that Sarkisian doesn’t want Manning to play a certain way or that the QB “isn’t smart enough to play a certain way,” and he can’t say for sure which is right.
Texas enters this weekend facing a hungry Ole Miss Rebels squad with its postseason fate on the line, not to mention Manning’s grip on the starting quarterback role. If things go poorly on Saturday, this supposed dream season could turn into a nightmare in Austin.
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