Texas gets big win over Ole Miss, but the Arch Manning questions remain

Texas quarterback Arch Manning was put on the hot seat going into Saturday's game against Ole Miss, and he needed to deliver a big game to silence the doubters and critics around his game.

He did enough to help Texas win a huge 34-27 game and accounted for three touchdowns, including two rushing touchdowns.

That is the good news.

The bad news is that every question about Manning going into the week is probably still there, because for every peak he had during the game, there was a valley to match it. 

Arch Manning questions remain even in Texas win

While Manning accounted for three touchdowns, he also committed three more turnovers, including a fumble that was returned for a touchdown to help ignite an Ole Miss comeback, and two more interceptions.

The second of those interceptions came in the fourth quarter on a poor decision to throw deep into triple coverage that looked like it was intended for safety Jalyn Crawford (who also intercepted Manning earlier in the game).

That's the downside to the Manning experience. 

He will make throws and plays that make him look like a future star in the NFL and a potential top pick.

But in the same game, he will turn around and nearly sabotage his team's chances of winning, especially in big moments. There is still not enough consistency in his game, and too many game-changing mistakes. 

What was truly telling on Saturday is that after Manning's second interception (while the game was still tied), the Texas coaching staff pretty much took the ball out of his hands. Texas ran the football on 12 of its final 13 offensive plays, with the only pass being a three-yard completion. Both drives resulted in points (a touchdown and a field goal) to win the game. While Manning did run in the touchdown on a perfectly executed play-action bootleg, everything before that (and after that) was about the offensive lines and running backs. 

They simply did not let Manning throw the ball.

You could argue they did not need him to throw the ball, but it seemed like a decision that Texas was not going to deviate from. 

Another week, another week of everybody being in the same position they were already in.

Texas wins, but Manning did enough to make both his biggest supporters and critics have something to talk about. The cycle repeats itself.