From the sound of it, college football fans will see a different version of quarterback Arch Manning when the Texas Longhorns face No. 7 Ole Miss on Saturday. After a 4-0 start to the season, Texas has now dropped back-to-back games to Oklahoma and Florida, falling from No. 1 in the country to No. 19. That, along with reports that backup quarterback and redshirt freshman QB KJ Lacey Jr. got added first-team reps this week, has apparently affected Manning's demeanor.
Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian revealed as much, stating that Manning is "edgy" and explaining that someone. had told him they've lost the "aw shucks" version of Manning, as Tyler Horka of Inside Texas revealed.
"I would use the word edgy, and I like it," Sarkisian said. "He's edgy right now. And I think that somebody texted me today that we lost the 'Aw Shucks' kid and we created something else. I don't know if we lost him. We created this. We did. All of us. Y'all included. Me. The whole thing, right. Everybody on ESPN, we've created this. And so we'll see what comes out of it."
According to Horka, Sarkisian added that he appreciates Manning's edgy side and that "at some point, he's gotta fight back."
"But he's edgy right now. And honestly, I appreciate that about him. At some point, he's gotta fight back. And the best way for him to fight back is going out and playing really good football with his teammates and enjoy playing football with his teammates. And so I'm looking forward to watching him compete Saturday night."
This article originally appeared on For The Win: Steve Sarkisian says Texas lost 'aw shucks' version of Arch Manning