It was a rough Week 1 for the Texas football program, who lost by a score of 14-7 to the reigning champion Ohio State Buckeyes to open up the college football season. It was a particularly rough day at the office for quarterback Arch Manning, who completed 17 of his 30 pass attempts, 170 yards to go along with one touchdown and one interception.
The bulk of those yards came in the fourth quarter, when the Longhorns were trying to mount a comeback and Ohio State went to more of a prevent defense for a stretch.
The showing drew a slew of jokes from social media, considering that many had projected Manning to be the Heisman favorite heading into this season.
Recently, college football insider Joel Klatt broke down why everyone should pump the brakes on the Manning mockery.
“Take the name off his back, take the expectations down a couple of notches – he will be just fine,” said Klatt, via The Joel Klatt Show: A College Football on FOX Pod on X, formerly Twitter.
Indeed, Manning's last name, which he shares with his uncles Peyton and Eli–both NFL Hall of Famers–probably didn't do a whole lot except add unnecessary pressure to Arch as his first game as the full-time starter for Texas approached.
A rough debut for Texas football
Texas football was ranked number one in the country heading into the matchup against Ohio State, a ranking that will almost assuredly drop in the wake of the loss vs the Buckeyes.
While the Texas defense looked strong in slowing down an Ohio State offense loaded with talent, including star wide receiver Jeremiah Smith, the Longhorns' offense looked listless throughout most of the afternoon, with Manning unable to get anything going down the field despite being given a reasonable amount of time in the pocket by his offensive line for the majority of the afternoon.
In any case, Texas will now have a few easier games to get things right against San Jose State, UTEP, and Sam Houston before they kick off their SEC schedule against Florida on October 4.
