On Saturday, Arch Manning stepped into the lineup early on in Texas football's home game vs UTSA and played well for injured starter Quinn Ewers, leading the Longhorns to a blowout win to push their record to 3-0. Among Manning's highlights was an epic 60-plus yard touchdown run off of play action, and Texas looks poised to continue to dominate the competition even if Ewers is out of the lineup for an extended period of time.
One person who sees a championship in the Longhorn's sights even with Manning at quarterback is none other than ESPN college football insider Paul Finebaum, who recently took to First Take to relay his thoughts.
“He proved that he can take this team to the national championship. I know that Quinn Ewers has a lot more experience than Arch Manning, but what I saw from Arch Manning on Saturday, and what everyone saw, has me convinced that there's really not much drop off,” said Finebaum. “The only drop off is experience, but this guy is a Manning after all.”
Finebaum also broke down just how impressed he was with Manning's performance vs UTSA.
“What I really give him credit for was staying at Texas. Any other player would have departed for a couple million bucks, and he could have earned that because of his name but his prowess, but he stayed there to wait his turn, he finally got it, and do we have a quarterback controversy?” wondered Finebaum. “Yeah, we've got the Heisman trophy favorite Quinn Ewers, at least until last week, now looking over his shoulder at (Manning).”
Does Texas have enough?
It's unclear what Finebaum saw in a game vs UTSA that could have convinced him that Manning is one of the best players in the country, but he sure did look impressive, albeit against lowly competition.
The real barometer for Texas' success so far this season came in their week two road win vs Michigan, although even that is now being called into question by some given just how much the Wolverines have struggled in their other two games as well.
Still, the performance against UTSA, combined with the Georgia Bulldogs' struggle against Kentucky, was enough to convince voters to push the Longhorns to number one in the AP Poll this week.
It's unlikely that we'll learn anything new about Texas football this coming week, as the Longhorns will take on Louisiana-Monroe on Saturday evening at home.
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