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Coming into the 2025 college football season, Texas Longhorns fans had incredibly high expectations for first-year starting quarterback Arch Manning. But after another inconsistent performance on Saturday against UTEP, it seems like the fanbase is done giving Manning a free pass.
UTEP was largely outmatched in the game at every level. But Manning certainly wasn’t able to take advantage of his team’s clear athleticism and overall talent gap.
While Manning was able to succeed as a runner, his passing abilities appeared largely unpolished, completing just 5 of his 16 pass attempts for 69 passing yards, with an interception to boot in the first half.
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As Texas came out onto the field for a drive in the second quarter, fans collectively shared an incredibly loud boo for Manning and the Texas offense.
Given all of the hype Manning and the Longhorns as a team had coming into the season, one could argue that the boos are certainly warranted given how much better on paper they were than UTEP.
Texas would come away with a 27-10 victory. But Manning didn’t exactly hit his stride in the second half either, as he would finish the game completing just 11 of his 25 pass attempts, finishing with 114 passing yards.
It seems like Manning’s development as a player is taking a bit longer than most expected that it would. And Texas fans are surely hoping that Manning figures it out in a hurry, as they schedule gets tougher in a hurry as they approach conference play.
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Manning and the Longhorns will get another game against a non-Power 5 program next week when they take on Sam Houston State before going into their Bye Week in Week 5.
But after that, Manning and Texas will head to Gainesville for a Week 6 matchup against Florida, which could certainly present a difficult environment for Manning to play in given his inconsistent play thus far this season.
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