Arch Manning, Texas Show High Ceiling With New Offensive Weapons on Display

There were signs early last season that Texas wasn’t yet fully formed.

The Longhorns’ offensive woes in the opener against Ohio State popped up again two weeks later against UTEP, a far inferior foe. Quarterback Arch Manning was inaccurate. Pocket pressure was persistent. The running back room struggled to create explosive plays.

Lo and behold, those shortcomings reared their heads later on in a shocking loss to Florida, near-misses against Kentucky and Mississippi State and a sobering defeat to Georgia that ultimately kept Texas out of the College Football Playoff.

It’s just one game, but the Longhorns look like a team that solved many of those problems. No. 5 Texas trounced Texas State, 59-7, on Saturday. Manning played with the poise of a veteran and the freedom of signal-caller who knows he now has a wider margin for error. Perhaps last summer’s hype train was just a year early.

Coach Steve Sarkisian got his quarterback help this offseason in the way that only a team as well-resourced as the Longhorns can. Texas landed the No. 3 transfer portal class in the country and the No. 2 player in wide receiver Cam Coleman.

Manning made sure he got Coleman, who dealt with uneven quarterback play for two years at Auburn, involved early. It took the Longhorns just three snaps to get in the red zone. Once there, Manning looked to Coleman, whom he found in the corner of the end zone on his first pass attempt of the season.

Manning went back to the well in the second half. He hung in the pocket and took a hit to deliver a strike over the middle to a double-covered Coleman, who came down with the catch in the end zone.

What made the capper to that six-play, 90-yard drive to start the third quarter that much better was what it followed. Manning made a costly error late in the first half that negated a scoring opportunity.

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Facing 3rd and goal with 11 seconds remaining, Manning tried to thread the needle to Emmett Mosley V. But that pass attempt was intercepted by Bobcats defensive back Ryan Nolan, so the Longhorns didn’t even get a chip shot field goal attempt out of the drive.

Once Manning got the ball back, he soon made up for his mistake.

Texas running back Hollywood Smothers set up that first scoring drive when the NC State transfer took his first carry 45 yards. Manning rewarded him later on when he found him out wide and Smothers took care of the rest. The versatile back stopped on a dime and split three defenders to break the plane and put the game far out of reach midway through the third quarter.

Raleek Brown, Smothers’ backfield running mate and a transfer from Arizona State, found the end zone twice. He punched in scores from 13 and 21 yards out.

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Manning exited the game with it well in hand late in the third quarter. Even his backup, Karle Lacy Jr., played well in cleanup duty. When it was all said and done, Smothers had 98 total yards, Brown racked up 62 yards from scrimmage and Coleman finished with 70 receiving yards. That trio combined for four touchdowns.

Manning threw for four scores himself and completed 20-of-27 pass attempts for 305 yards. He also took just one sack and didn’t have to take off and run all that much.

Ryan Wingo, the team’s top returning receiver, led the team with seven catches for 121 yards and a score. Between him, Coleman and Mosley, Manning indeed has one of the best wide receiver rooms in the country. And Smothers and Brown clearly headline one of the best backfields.

Texas’ 59 points are its most in a game since 2021. The Longhorns were expected to beat Texas State as a 30-plus-point favorite, but the Bobcats — now in the Pac-12 — are a well-regarded team.

Bobcats quarterback Brad Jackson is arguably the best quarterback in the Group of 6, but new Texas defensive coordinator Will Muschamp kept him in check. Throw in new Texas kicker Gianni Spetic connecting on his lone 48-yard field goal try — and all eight extra points — and Sarkisian’s squad won in all three phases.

This dominant performance doesn’t guarantee success next week against No. 1 Ohio State or down the road against the likes of No. 10 Oklahoma, No. 9 Ole Miss and No. 11 LSU, fellow SEC contenders. But this outing — with the Longhorns’ new toys front and center — is an indication that the offense has taken a step forward. Just like last season, we should listen to what Texas is telling us./

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