We are now two days away from the Longhorns’ fourth game of the season, and I don’t think many people are quite looking forward to seeing Arch Manning on the field after three weeks of struggles.

Not only should head coach Steve Sarkisian have benched Manning in the second half of the game against UTEP, but he also needs to bench him ahead of this week’s game against Sam Houston State.

I’m not saying it needs to be permanent or long-term; it doesn’t even have to be for the entire game, but he needs to sit on the bench for a little while, because his performance right now is not cutting it.

What needs to happen

We seem to hear about this more often now: coaches benching players, specifically quarterbacks, not only to give the backups a chance to prove themselves, but also for the starting player to realize that they will have to fight for their job.

Right now, Manning is comfortable, although he’s not exactly playing like he is, but he’s comfortable knowing that he’s the starter. The longer his issues persist without being addressed, the more untouchable he will feel.

When thinking about benching players for motivational reasons, I immediately think back to when Texas beat Alabama in Tuscaloosa in 2023, and then when Alabama played USF the next week, Nick Saban played every quarterback he had before ultimately giving Jalen Milroe the starting job permanently.

It’s time for Sarkisian to do the same before Texas enters SEC play against a tough opponent in Florida.

Once Manning threw 10 straight incompletions to finish the second quarter, the Longhorns should have come out of the half with either Matthew Caldwell or Trey Owens leading the offense.

Now, what should happen is that Texas should open the game against Sam Houston with Caldwell or Owens. Manning should not touch the field until the second half, perhaps even the fourth quarter.

This is a third straight game that Texas should win, and if it’s gonna struggle for yet another week to put up points, it should at least have a decent reason behind it, like it being due to the fact that it played three or four different quarterbacks.

It could go a little something like starting Caldwell in the first quarter, Owens in the second, and then either playing Manning for the entire second half, or maybe the fourth quarter, should Sarkisian decide to play KJ Lacey in the third quarter.

This should be done in order for Manning to realize that his starting job is not secure, and that any of the others could take it from him. When he plays late in the game, don’t slow down, let him go get hot and score.

Take the opportunity to see how he really responds to adversity like this while facing an inferior opponent. Then we can really see how his performance compares to the others, and know if he’s the problem, or if it’s Sarkisian’s offense.