Steve Sarkisian: Arch Manning ‘pissed off’ after Texas’ back-to-back losses to unranked opponents

Texas coach Steve Sarkisian said Arch Manning was nervous as the Longhorns entered the second half of the season without much margin for a College Football Playoff mistake.

No. 19 Texas is 4-2 after consecutive losses to unranked opponents. The Longhorns were No. 1 when they lost 27-24 to Oklahoma in Week 6. And then they lost 27-24 to Florida as the No. 7 team in the country in Week 7.

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Both of those losses came as Manning committed crucial turnovers in the fourth quarter. Against Oklahoma, Manning threw a pick-6 before leading the Longhorns on a game-tying TD. But then he threw another interception that allowed OU to score the game-winning field goal. Against the Gators, Manning fumbled on Texas’ first play after the two-minute warning, with the Longhorns just short of midfield and Texas trailing by three.

“I would use the word angry, and I like that,” Sarkisian told reporters Thursday via Inside Texas. “He’s nervous right now. And I think someone texted me today to say we lost the ‘Aw Shucks’ kid, and we created something else. I don’t know if we lost him, we created this, we did it, all of us. You all included me, all of that, right? Everybody on ESPN, we created this. And so we’ll see what comes out of it. But he’s nervous right now. And honestly, I appreciate that about him, at some point he has to fight back and the best way for him to fight back is to play really good football with his teammates and enjoy playing football with his teammates.

Texas is favored against No. 7 Ole Miss in Week 8, as another loss could completely eliminate the Longhorns from College Football Playoff contention. In 2025, Texas went 9-3 in the regular season and did not make the 12 teams.

While you can understand how all the attention paid to Manning since he stepped foot on Texas’ campus could be incredibly difficult for a college-aged athlete to ignore, Texas and Sarkisian also knew that a bright spotlight would follow Manning when they recruited him to Austin.

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Nor did Sargsyan give Manning an enthusiastic vote of confidence after the Florida loss. He said “everything” would be evaluated regarding the offense after the game and stood by that statement when asked directly if Manning would be included. ESPN then reported Monday that backup quarterback KJ Lacey would see an increase in first-team reps in practice before the Ole Miss game.

Of course, these developments don’t mean Manning will automatically be benched if he and Texas get off to a slow start Saturday night. But they also add a level of intrigue that wouldn’t have been there otherwise.

“It depends, every game is different,” Sarkisian said when asked if Manning could be ruled out of a game for reasons other than blowouts. “So I think Arch had a good week at work, he prepared well. But like the team, we have to play well, so we’ll take it from there.”