Desmond Howard Floats Conspiracy Theory On Arch Manning Situation

Desmond calls out Arch, his own network

Appearing on "The Rich Eisen Show," Howard not only criticized Arch's decision-making against the Buckeyes, but also his own colleagues at ESPN for treating the quarterback with what he feels are kid gloves.

“People don’t want to really criticize him partially because he is a Manning. They want to stay in good favor with the Mannings, as they are a big name in our sport. So what they do is make it seem like Matt Patricia, the defensive coordinator for Ohio State, just called this brilliant game that kept Steve Sarkisian and Arch Manning off balance for four whole quarters," Howard said.

"Now Matt Patricia did call a very good game. There’s no doubt about that. But, I saw guys on 'SportsCenter' and other shows pulling like three tape plays and showing how he may have confused Arch Manning with a look or secondary switch at the last minute," Desmond continued. "I’m watching the film and I can show you 10-12 plays where guys were running wide open and he either just didn’t hit them with the ball or he didn’t see these guys. It wasn’t that complex or complicated.”

Kirk Herbstreit still believes

While Howard seems down on Manning ahead of the SEC part of Texas' schedule, partner Kirk Herbstreit took a much more positive approach to Arch's 2025.

“With Arch Manning, I think they’ll have a chance to get back,” Herbsteit explained. “That was a tough ask to go into Ohio Stadium, defending national champs, with a quarterback who had a couple starts last year, but this was his first ‘It’s his team now’ kind of moment against a really athletic Ohio State defense with Matt Patricia."

"But they’ll go back. They’ll learn from that. I think Texas is gonna be fine. Tough schedule in the SEC, but I think at the end of the day, they still be a team that’s gonna end up making the playoff.”

It definitely wasn't the easiest of circumstances for Arch to walk into, but no one really expected him to struggle as much as he did. Nevertheless, it's only the first game and he'll get at least 11 more cracks at it as the Horns look to make their third straight College Football Playoff this year.