Texas HC Steve Sarkisian shields Arch Manning after spring game

After highly touted signal-caller Arch Manning struggled in the Texas Longhorns annual Orange-White spring game on Apr. 15, completing just 5-of-13 pass attempts for 30 yards, questions were expected to follow.

After all, Arch is the grandson of Manning family patriarch Archie Manning, the 1969 SEC Player of the Year and a two-time Pro Bowl selection that made it to the New Orleans Saints Hall of Fame. His sons, Peyton and Eli Manning, were longtime starting quarterbacks that won a combined four Super Bowls.

Now Arch, the son of the once-promising Cooper Manning — another of Archie’s sons — has the world watching him, anxiously awaiting more of the Manning magic.

So, of course, his first exhibition was a bit of a letdown. In fact, Longhorns fans and analysts almost seem concerned.

Nonetheless, while Arch and Longhorns head coach Steve Sarkisian both agree that it “wasn’t his best day,” Sarkisian also believes that Texas wasn't “great around him either.”

“He’s on the right trajectory that he should be on,” Sarkisian says on 105.3 The Fan. “He’s a true freshman in college. He really should still be in high school….”

“There’s a transition to college life,” Sarkisian continues. “There’s a transition to the scheme that he hasn’t been accustomed to, there’s a transition to the speed of the game and how it goes. There were a lot of really good moments that Arch had throughout the spring, and there was a couple tough days.”

“He’s going to be a great Longhorn before it’s all said and done.”

At the end of the day, Sarkisian believes that “there’s a lot of room for him to grow.”

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