No one likes to be booed at home — least of all the starting quarterback of the Texas Longhorns football program.
Arch Manning heard it from the hometown fans over the weekend during Texas' 27-10 win over UTEP.
Manning completed 11 of 25 passes for the game, throwing for 114 yards with one touchdown and one interception. He knows that's not going to cut it when the Longhorns hit SEC play in a few weeks.
“It's going to come, I'm not worried,” Manning told the media on Monday. “I've just got to get back to playing my game.”
Seeming to stay upbeat, Manning talked about the work ahead of the team this week as it prepares for its next game, Saturday at home against Sam Houston State.
“We're going to be better this week and get clicking on offense,” he added. “I'm excited to get going. I know the type of player I am, I know I can be better. I know we can be better as an offense, so it's time to get going.”
Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian, who has a quarter-century of coaching experience behind him, saw his phenom QB trying too hard.
“I felt like he pressed some,” he said. “He knew he missed some throws. I feel like we've done enough with him to have a pretty good understanding of who he is as a player and what he's capable of. I know there's a lot of football in him that's high-level football.”
On the season, Manning has completed only 55.3% of his pass attempts, throwing for six touchdowns and three interceptions. For context, he built those numbers in a season-opening loss to Ohio State, then two games against overmatched competition.
And he has been under fire from the start. His poor performance against the Buckeyes set the tone. Combined with an uneven game against San Jose State in Week 2, some wondered if he was injured. Manning and his coach have insisted that's not the case.
The Longhorns and Bearkats will do battle Saturday night at 8 p.m. ET.
