SEC This Week: So Far, Arch Manning Is The Biggest Texas Dud Since “The Last Picture Show” Sequel

September 19, 2025 Glenn Guilbeau LSU Football 0
Texas QB Arch Manning was once the No. 1 prep QB in America out of Newman High in New Orleans. Now, he is No. 79 in the nation and No. 13 in the SEC in passing yards per game with 193. (Texas photo).

GLENN GUILBEAU, Tiger Rag Editor

Arch Manning was the No. 1 Second Coming of basically all time as he finished his high school career at Newman in New Orleans in 2022 and in his first two years at Texas.

He was the No. 1 prep quarterback in the nation and No. 1 overall prospect in the country by 247sports.com and 0n3.com. After being red-shirted in 2023, he showed flashes of promised greatness in relief in his redshirt freshman season in 2024, completing 61 of 90 for 939 yards and nine touchdowns and rushing for 108 yards on 25 carries and four touchdowns.

Messiah Manning entered the 2025 season as a Heisman Trophy favorite.

Then the season started.

And it’s been hell ever since.

Arch has become the biggest bust in Texas since “Texasville,” which – just in case you never heard of the 1990 movie – was the sequel to the classic “The Last Picture Show” that was nominated for eight Academy Awards and won two in 1972.

Manning is not No. 1 right now. He is No. 79 in the nation and No. 13 in the 16-team SEC in passing yards a game with 193. Even LSU’s Garrett Nussmeier, who has been struggling as he has played with a painful abdomen injury, is 30 spots ahead of him at No. 49 nationally and No. 9 in the SEC with 229.7 yards a game.

In passing efficiency, Arch is a tad better than Nussmeier, who was also a Heisman favorite entering the season. Manning is No. 81 in the nation in that category with a 128.7 quotient on 47-of-85 passing for 579 yards and six touchdowns with three interceptions. Nussmeier is at No. 88 with a 125.3 rating on 69-of-106 passing for 689 yards and three touchdowns with two interceptions.

Little did those two know the struggles that were coming as they roomed together as counselors at the Manning Passing Academy over the summer. Maybe, they should have been getting the counseling.

It is still very early for both, though. Nussmeier is getting healthier and gets basically an exhibition game this weekend as the No. 3 Tigers (3-0, 1-0 SEC) host 39-point underdog FCS Southeastern Louisiana (2-1) on Saturday (6:45 p.m., SEC Network). But that ridiculous interception he threw into a crowd against Florida last week had nothing to do with his injury. He tried to Brett Favre it in there as he did at times last last season when healthy.

And maybe Arch can pivot into a decent game on Saturday when the No. 8 Longhorns (2-1) host Sam Houston State (0-3, 0-1 Conference-USA), which is also 39-point underdog.

ANOTHER “BOOK OF MANNING” CHAPTER COMING?

Arch is supposed to be another “Book of Manning” documentary chapter. He is an expected sequel of sorts to his two-time Super Bowl champion uncle Peyton Manning, one of the greatest NFL quarterbacks in history, as well as his two-time Super Bowl champion other quarterback uncle Eli Manning and to his grandfather Archie, who was one of the greatest college quarterbacks of all time and would have been that in the NFL had he played for an NFL franchise, and not the New Oleans Saints.

Grandpa’s nickname at Ole Miss was Archie Who, which was ironic because everyone knew who Archie was by the end of his first year as a sophomore starter in 1968.

But so far, Arch looks more like Tim Tebow when he was in the NFL with the same problematic mechanics.  

In a lackluster, 27-10 win over 41-point underdog Texas-El Paso last week, Arch threw 10 straight incompletions. That’s really hard to do. He finished 11-of-25 passing for 114 yards with a touchdown and an interception. And he got booed, just like Uncle Eli at times with the New York Giants.

“I felt like he pressed some,” Texas coach and former BYU quarterback Steve Sarkisian said.

Ya think?

“He knew he was missing some throws,” Sarkisian said.

Arch can add.

“And then you start skipping reads and scrambling,” Sarkisian said.

It was a mess. Arch is as surprised as anyone.

“All my life, I’ve been an accurate passer,” Manning said. “I’ve just got to get back to it. I’ve got to play better. I’m just frustrated. I know I’m better than this.”

MANNING NOT MASTERING MECHANICS

“Manning Mechanics” could be a Larry McMurtry-like bestseller in Texas. He throws sometimes without stepping. He often throws sidearm awkwardly. His grandfather threw sidearm at times, but he knew how. Arch has at times missed open receivers – not via a bad throw. He never noticed them.

“The one thing that can happen when you press is you kind of speed up the delivery,” Sarkisian said. “But then slow down the delivery. I know that’s kind of an oxymoron.”

Sarkisian appears to be reaching for explanations as well as completions.

“For some of us here who are bad golfers, think about your golf swing,” he said. “You try to swing hard, and then you try to slow it down at the very end to make good contact. That’s never a recipe for success. And that’s not a good recipe for throwing a football either. And I felt like that happened at times.”

Because of Manning’s mechanics and those fluttering and inaccurate passes, some have theorized that he is hurt and hiding it, much like LSU and Nussmeier did with his torso/abdomen issue since August until LSU coach Brian Kelly dropped that little bombshell on Monday.

Nussmeier should get better as his abdomen improves, but if it nags him all season, LSU may have to rely on its running game, which is 116th in the nation and second to last in the SEC at the moment with 110 yards a game.

That Manning Magic, meanwhile, could return at any moment. He can’t be that bad, right?

On3 columnist Ari Wasserman said it best about Arch on Twitter:

“If he is injured, and this is the result, he shouldn’t be playing,” he said. “If he isn’t injured, and this is the result, that’s bad.”

Maybe Archie Manning knew before anyone that there was the possibility that his grandson may struggle early. It was Archie who said before this season that Arch would not be declaring for the NFL Draft early.

Sometimes, Grandfather Knows Best.

SEC TV SCHEDULE

Arkansas (2-1, 0-1) at Memphis (3-0), 11 a.m., ABC

UAB (2-1) at No. 15 Tennessee (2-1, 0-1), 11:45 a.m., SEC Network

Tulane (3-0) at No. 13 Ole Miss (3-0, 2-0), 2:30 p.m., ESPN

No. 22 Auburn (3-0) at No. 11 Oklahoma (3-0), 2:30 p.m., ABC

Northern Illinois (1-1) at Mississippi State (3-0), 3:15 p.m., SEC Network

Florida (1-2, 0-1) at No. 4 Miami (3-0), 6:30 p.m., ABC

South Carolina (2-1, 0-1) at No. 23 Missouri (3-0), 6 p.m., ESPN

Georgia State at No. 20 Vanderbilt (3-0, 1-0), 6:30 p.m., ESPNU

Southeastern Lousiana (2-1) at No. 3 LSU (3-0, 1-0), 6:45 p.m., SEC Network

Sam Houston State at No. 8 Texas (2-1), 7 p.m., ESPN+, SEC Network+

NOTE OF THE WEEK

LSU garnered only 10 first downs in its 20-10 win over Florida Saturday, marking the first time the Tigers won while recording 10 or fewer of those since Oct. 15, 1994, when LSU beat Kentucky, 17-13, in Tiger Stadium. The Tigers improved to 2-4 and 2-3 in the SEC with the win and finished 4-7 and 3-5.

QUOTE OF THE WEEK

“I’m not trying to embarrass you, but it was a stupid question.”

–LSU coach Brian Kelly to WBRZ’s Michael Cauble, who asked a fair question about LSU’s offensive struggles this season after a 20-10 win over Florida Saturday night. Kelly apologized to Cauble Sunday afternoon and twice more on Monday.

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