AUSTIN — “Got to play better.”
The clipped assessment from Texas Longhorns senior quarterback Arch Manning after the non-conference finale against the UTSA Roadrunners didn’t provide the respite anyone hoped for after a week of controversy succinctly summed up a disappointing 16-of-32 passing effort that produced 161 yards and two touchdowns.
Despite leading the comeback against Ohio State, Manning is currently helming a passing offense that isn’t hitting on all cylinders with hard limits put on it by
continued accuracy and processing issues for the Texas quarterback, who was up and down from play to play against the Buckeyes.
With no passing plays over 24 yards in the last two-plus games and 75 total pass attempts by Manning dating back to the season opener, the high-priced aerial attack for the Horns isn’t reaching the heights imagined during the heady preseason.
As a redshirt freshman, the best passing skill that Manning flashed was his ability to hit deep balls down the field, going 8-of-19 for 327 yards and four touchdowns.
Sarkisian believes that defense are devoting resources to taking those plays away to force Texas to move down the field more methodically, requiring Manning to find more throws between the second and third levels of the defense.
“I think the natural thing is, try not to give up explosives when you play us, so I think that we have to continually try to find those intermediate throws,” Sarkisian said.
The focus defensively puts more pressure on Manning to connect on the limited deep opportunities that Sarkisian is able to scheme up, especially for junior Cam Coleman, the star addition to the wide receiver corps this offseason.
Against Ohio State, an early opportunity went wanting when the Auburn transfer couldn’t keep his feet on a would-be 62-yard touchdown that instead turned into a fluke interception when Manning didn’t keep the throw flat enough on Coleman’s post route.
In the second quarter of the UTSA game, lining Coleman up in the slot in 12 personnel produced one-on-one coverage with the single deep safety biting on the play-action fake. As Coleman created significant separation on his post route, Manning took a hit from a free blitzer as he released the ball, which landed 10 yards wide of Coleman.
It was one of only three throws of 20-plus yards in Saturday’s game and the only one in which his receiver created separation.
Especially for Coleman, separation was an overall issue going against UTSA cornerback Asaad Chapman, a 6’3, 200-pound JUCO transfer who was able to match up physically with Coleman in press coverage.
Another missed opportunity with Coleman came on a poor blitz pick up by senior running back Hollywood Smothers, who helped to his right instead of identifying a free defender coming from his left.
Manning did have some success on his intermediate throws over the middle, including the early 24-yard touchdown pass to Coleman on a double move that beat zone coverage.
And Sarkisian was happy with the bubble screen game as Manning completed all six of his passes behind the line of scrimmage for 40 yards, an average of 6.7 yards per reception that was hardly explosive, but served effectively as an extension of the running game. Considering how far Manning was behind his predecessor Quinn Ewers in delivering those passes in the right spot for receivers to gain yards after the catch, there’s been real improvement in that area from Manning.
But the better demarcation to evaluate Manning’s performance is before and after the hit, a jarring collision on a scramble late in the first half that knocked the quarterback’s helmet off.
After the game, Manning said the hit didn’t impact him physically, perhaps a questionable assertion given how much his accuracy deteriorated after that point in going 5-of-16 passing for 45 yards to finish his outing, including four straight misses to end the half that ultimately turned into a 2-of-11 stretch before a couple check downs led to Manning’s final completion, a seven-yard throw to freshman wide receiver Jermaine Bishop late in the third quarter.
“I feel like Arch kind of fell in love with his legs a little bit tonight,” Sarkisian said.
Manning scrambled eight times for 53 yards on drop backs as Sarkisian didn’t call a single designed run for his quarterback.
“What happens when you go to run? You can start speeding up through your progressions and I think that we don’t want to make a living with him running the ball as much as he ran tonight. We want him to use his legs when he can, but ideally we’re in rhythm in the passing game when the ball’s coming out and we’re calling things where he can get completions and he’s throwing it accurately and guys are making plays and catching the ball, and then his legs can be the last resort, the weapon to get us out,” Sarkisian said.
Even Manning’s decision making while scrambling needs some work — the play that he took the big hit on was a 2nd and 1 on which he’d gained seven yards before taking that contact from multiple defenders.
“We can’t survive all season long with him doing that. We’ve got to be more efficient in the passing game. He does. We do from a game-plan standpoint, the receivers do, everybody’s got to do their part. We’ve got to be more efficient when we call pass plays,” Sarkisian said.
“I thought we missed some opportunities in the pass game tonight that could have made it really all tie together.”
Some of those chances were simply misfires by Manning, including a 4th and 5 pass intended for junior wide receiver Emmett Mosley V that forced Mosley to deepen his out route by two yards and still went through his hands at the top of his leap and an airmailed 4th and 4 intended for Mosley that sailed several yards out of bounds.
Then there’s the back-to-back weeks of stepping up in the pocket and attempting dangerous shovel passes in traffic that raise some serious concerns about his decision making.
With the trip to Knoxville looming for the SEC opener, Manning will face more talented defenses intent on making him pay for putting the ball at risk or not adequately protecting himself on scrambles. Considering how poorly Manning played in conference road games last season, there are major hurdles to overcome as accuracy and processing issues threaten to outweigh the good moments from the Texas quarterback.
“Hopefully he can get himself refocused, ready to go for a big week to start SEC play,” Sarkisian said.
The team’s lofty aspirations depend on it.
