ESPN college football analyst Josh Pate wants to know why Texas is still starting quarterback Arch Manning after back-to-back losses to Oklahoma and Florida, arguing a roster built for a national title can’t keep waiting on its offense.
“How do you not make the move at quarterback right now?” Pate asked on his College Football Show, a day after Florida knocked off the No. 7 Longhorns 27-24 in Austin and dropped Texas to 4-2.
Arch Manning and Texas’ offensive slide
Manning completed 14 of 20 passes for 173 yards and a touchdown against the Gators, but Florida sacked him five times and forced a strip-sack with under two minutes left in a three-point game. Texas ran just 50 offensive plays, the fewest under head coach Steve Sarkisian.
A week earlier, the second-year starter threw two fourth-quarter interceptions in Dallas, including a 42-yard pick-six by Peyton Bowen, before Oklahoma won 27-24 on a last-second field goal.
“This is Sark’s worst offense,” Pate said. “You got so much money invested here. You went and got both those tailbacks out of the portal. They are 102nd in the country in rushing right now. They’re 126th in 20-plus-yard plays.”
“This is a championship-or-bust type season. This is a roster built to win a championship,” Pate said.
Who is KJ Lacey?
The college football analyst admitted his case has limits. “I don’t know what KJ Lacey looks like at practice. I have no idea. I just know what Arch looks like in games,” Pate said.
Lacey, a four-star signee in Texas’ 2025 class, won Alabama’s Mr. Football award as a senior. He took extra first-team reps this spring while Manning recovered from foot surgery.
“Usually, we have to manufacture that by pulling Arch out and everything, but now KJ is just getting those reps,” Sarkisian said during spring practice.
The Alabama native’s game sample remains small. He completed six of seven passes for 55 yards in relief during Texas’ 59-7 opening win over Texas State.
Steve Sarkisian’s pressure at Texas
Sarkisian, who calls Texas’ plays, didn’t rule out a quarterback change Saturday. Asked whether his evaluation included Manning, he said, “Everything means everything.”
Pate said the loss stirred people tied to the program’s finances. “Yesterday was the kind of outcome that has Texas folks hitting you up voluntarily. Pretty important ones,” he said.
He compared the moment to Penn State’s 2025 overtime loss to Oregon, calling it “a radical example.” Penn State fired James Franklin about two weeks later.
“We’re not paying you because we like you. We’re paying you because we think you can win us a championship,” Pate said, describing how some Texas supporters view Sarkisian.
Texas hosts Ole Miss on Saturday and Mississippi State on Oct. 31 before road games at Missouri on Nov. 7 and LSU on Nov. 14.
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