Early on this season, Texas football star Arch Manning was being written off as a ‘bust' after a rough start to his first year as the Longhorns' starting quarterback. Nowadays, though, Manning is slowly quieting his critics.

Entering into the season with impossibly high expectations, including that he would be the Heisman Trophy winner and No. 1 overall NFL Draft pick, Manning fell well short of those goals early on. But lately, his play has improved, and it hasn't gone unnoticed by legendary coach Nick Saban, who broke down Manning's tape earlier today on ESPN's ‘College Gameday'.

“I think the last two weeks, Arch has played really, really well,” Saban said. “And I think the reason for that is, for whatever reason, whether it was lack of confidence in the O-line or whatever, he played in a hurry.
There was no rhythm. And it affected his footwork and accuracy and all kinds of things.

“…Here is an example of earlier in the season, there's no pressure here. There's no reason for him to be in a hurry. But look at his footwork: he's off balance, doesn't have his feet in the right position to throw the ball, has a wide-open receiver, and misses him. So now you're going to see him do it correctly. Stands in the pocket — good footwork, good form, reads it out. And this is a ten-times harder throw than the last throw that he missed. But he's capable of making every throw. This is a great throw and an explosive play.”

Saban said he believes Manning has clearly shown more confidence and trust in his offensive line as the season has progressed, which has, in turn, helped him slow down while in the pocket and before the snap while making adjustments.

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In his first game as the full-time starter, back in August, Manning went 17-for-30 for 170 yards, one touchdown, and one interception as Texas lost 14-7 to defending national champion Ohio State on the road. After a bounce-back vs. San Jose State, Manning confusingly struggled through the air vs. lowly UTEP; he completed just 11 of his 25 passing attempts for 114 yards, one TD, and one INT. Fortunately, he ran for 51 yards and a pair of touchdowns. Three weeks later, after a stellar outing vs. Sam Houston and a bye, Manning's struggles resurfaced again, as he threw two interceptions and completed 55% of his throws in a 29-21 loss to Florida, which fired its head coach a few weeks afterward.

Since that game, though, things have been going a lot smoother for Manning, who has completed 65.4% of his passes and thrown for 972 yards, seven touchdowns, and one interception in four straight victories, including two vs. ranked opponents. While Manning's rushing ability has been less emphasized — he's run for only 43 yards and one TD in the last four games vs. 160 yards and five touchdowns in the first five games — he has had to do a lot less of it.

Manning and Texas face one of their toughest tests of the year tonight, however, in a road game vs. No. 5 Georgia, the defense of which dominated then-starter Quinn Ewers last year to the point that head coach Steve Sarkisian momentarily benched him in favor of Manning during the 30-15 loss.

Texas and Georgia are set to kick off at approximately 6:30 p.m. CT tonight.