Texas HC Steve Sarkisian assesses Arch Manning’s performance in season opener

Texas coach Steve Sarkisian pleased with Arch Manning’s Week 1 performance

“He’s over 300 yards, four touchdowns, managed the game really well and was very efficient… Obviously when you convert like that on third down, the quarterback is playing at a high level, so it was a good first outing for him,” said Sarkisian.

Manning helped lead the Longhorns to a convincing 59-7 win to begin the season much better than last year. He displayed much better accuracy than last season, completing over 70% of his passes Saturday compared to just 61.4% in 12 regular season games last year.

Of all the areas of the field that Manning hit, the deep ball is where he showed the most improvement. He hit his receivers down the field for a handful of explosive passing plays, which is something else the Texas coach harped on.

“There weren’t a bunch of long foul balls. He throws a deep ball to Cam [Coleman], we complete it. He throws a deep ball to Ryan Wingo, we complete it. He gave them chances to go make plays,” said Sarkisian.

The Longhorns have a lot of expectations to live up to this season, and many of them are contingent on Manning’s development. He still needs to prove he can get the job done against top-tier competition, but this is a promising start for one of the biggest names in college football.