Recently, the Texas football program fell out of the AP poll top 25 altogether following their most recent loss on the road against Florida. It was another subpar game from quarterback Arch Manning, who has not lived up to the lofty expectations bestowed on him so far this year.
One person who isn't surprised by what he's seen from Manning in 2025 is college football insider Danny Kanell, who recently took to CBS Sports to make his opinion known.
“I thought it was going to be a roller coaster. He did start a couple of games, but it was against much lesser competition. Then all of a sudden, you lose some pieces on the offensive line. You're working with new wide receivers… it just hasn't worked out based off of those expectations,” said Kanell, per CBS Sports College Football on X<, formerly Twitter.
“He still has shown flashes of what we thought we were going to get… He had a beautiful throw against the Gators, but he also had an interception. It's just been more of a roller coaster ride, which, call me crazy, but I think that is normal for somebody who hasn't played much yet at the college football level,” said Kanell. “…I still think it's way too early to write off Arch Manning and say he can't get better.”
Were expectations for Arch Manning too high?
It's not possible to calculate just how much of Arch Manning's preseason hype was due to his famous last name, but it's fair to assume that it certainly played a big role in the buzz surrounding him and the Texas football program heading into this year.
Now, the Longhorns suddenly find themselves behind the eight ball, already having suffered two losses with some more tough SEC games on the horizon. Texas will likely have to run the table from here on out in order to feel good about securing a playoff spot, although one more loss might not be a death sentence considering their road game against Ohio State to open up the season.
They'll next take the field on Saturday against the rival Oklahoma Sooners.
