Texas cannot win a national championship with a liability playing quarterback.
Arch Manning is a liability, not an asset.
With Oklahoma’s offense being what it is, No. 1 Texas could only lose this Red River Rivalry if it handed the Sooners points on a platter.
Manning shoved the platter into Oklahoma’s hands.
The quarterback with college football’s most famous surname repeatedly panicked and threw two brutal interceptions in the fourth quarter.
Oklahoma turned one interception into a pick-six. It turned the other into a game-winning field goal.
Neiman Marcus couldn’t have gift-wrapped it any more neatly than Manning did for the Sooners.
Oklahoma 27, Texas 24.
Down goes No. 1.
“Everybody contributed,” Oklahoma coach Brent Venables said during a postgame
interview on ABC, while Sooners fans flashed “Horns Down” in the background of the camera shot.
Manning contributed, too, with a pair of turnovers Texas couldn’t afford. He remains one of the SEC's least-efficient quarterbacks.
His first interception came on a wild YOLO pass after rolling out of the pocket to avoid the pass rush.
Throw. The. Ball. Away.
Nope.
Instead, Manning threw it toward a cloud of Oklahoma defenders, and Peyton Bowen turned his pick into points.
Texas rallied to tie the game after Manning’s 42-yard beauty to Cam Coleman – bad Arch, meet good Arch, who threw three touchdowns — and then the Longhorns got the ball back with two timeouts and 54 seconds left.
Either make enough safe completions to move Texas into field-goal range, or take the game to overtime.
That should’ve been Manning’s entire thought process at that point.
Instead, he threw a back-footed meatball sub while under pressure that Jared from Subway could’ve intercepted. With Jared unavailable, Courtland Guillory made the interception along the sideline.
Two tightrope Isaiah Sategna III receptions later, and Oklahoma was in position for a walk-off field goal, and you were left wondering how a Sooners team that mustered 238 yards of offense upset the nation’s top-ranked team.
It’s easy enough to explain. Manning contributed points to Oklahoma’s cause, and the Sooners also scored off a blocked punt. Like Venables put it, everybody contributed.
“Credit to Oklahoma,” Texas coach Steve Sarkisian said. “It was a nice win for them. They battled. They competed. They hung around and made the plays they needed to make in some critical moments to get the victory.”
Credit, indeed, to Oklahoma. The Sooners endured a rough September in which their offense looked broken. Just like last season, when Oklahoma used an undefeated November to make the playoff, Venables’ crew performed at their best with their backs against the wall.
This loss was a long time coming for Texas.
The Longhorns only truly looked like the nation’s No. 1 team for one quarter of one game, while rallying for a signature win against Ohio State.
Texas had eight penalties in this loss, running its total to 27 penalties in its last three games.
Penalties, turnovers, special teams gaffes and panicky decisions from your quarterback will get you beat.
“There’s a level of anger and frustration,” Sarkisian said, “because we know we have issues that need to be fixed.”
Best-case scenario, this loss will force Texas to strive for a level of focus it’s lacked.
The Longhorns celebrated an ugly, antics-filled win at Tennessee two weeks ago by smoking victory cigars, looking the Oscar-worthy part of an unserious football team.
Well, Bevo, put this in your pipe and smoke it: You’re not No. 1 anymore, and your quarterback went from preseason Heisman frontrunner to midseason burden.
Blake Toppmeyer is the USA TODAY Network's senior national college football columnist. Listen to his podcast, "College Football Unfiltered." Email him at BToppmeyer@gannett.com and follow him on X @btoppmeyer.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Arch Manning is Texas liability, not an asset. Oklahoma exposes reality | Opinion
