It’s against much inferior competition, but Arch Manning is bouncing back.
He completed 11-of-18 passes for 180 yards, four touchdowns and one interception during the first half of Texas’ clash against San Jose State on Saturday afternoon at Darrell K Royal Texas Memorial Stadium.
His first touchdown pass went for 83 yards to Parker Livingstone.
Arch Manning throws a pass during the Texas-San Jose State game on Sept. 6, 2025. AP
The Longhorns went into halftime with a 28-7 lead and ended up winning 38-7, as Manning finished with 295 passing yards, the four touchdowns and the one interception.
It follows his disastrous showing in Texas’ 14-7, season-opening loss to Ohio State on the road last week.
Manning largely looked overmatched, completing just 17-of-30 passes for 170 yards with a touchdown and an interception.
Arch Manning runs with the ball during the Texas-San Jose State game on Sept. 6, 2025. APMuch of that production came late in the fourth quarter, with Texas trailing by two scores.
The loss bumped Texas from a preseason No. 1 ranking down to No. 7.
There are enormous expectations for Manning given his family history.
Arch Manning walks off the field after the Texas-Ohio State game on Aug. 30, 2025. Getty ImagesHe is Eli and Peyton Manning’s nephew and the grandson of Archie — all of whom were legendary NFL quarterbacks.
The younger Manning was also the No. 1-ranked recruit in the 2023 class, only adding to the immense pressure on his shoulders.
“I hold myself to a high standard,” Manning said this past week about his Week 1 performance. “I’ve got to play better, got to lead more, got to get our guys to play well around me and ultimately I wasn’t good enough.”
Head coach Steve Sarkisian said that Manning took a lesson away from that game.
“There were a couple times where we had some crossing routes where I didn’t feel like he brought his feet to where he wanted to throw the ball, which in turn forced kind of a little bit more of a sidearm delivery, which isn’t his style of throwing,” Sarkisian said. “Part of that is just finding that comfort level of trust with receivers in real games — not in practice, not against the scout team, but in a real game — against a good defense because the windows get small against good defenses like that.
“So definitely lesson learned on that stuff.”
