Three-time national championship-winning head coach Urban Meyer knows what good quarterback play looks like, and he isn’t seeing it from Arch Manning right now.
Texas has lost two straight games, Manning has struggled in each of them, and the noise in Austin has only grown surrounding the 22-year-old. Meyer said during a recent appearance on OutKick’s “Don’t @ Me with Dan Dakich” that during Texas’ thrilling comeback win against Ohio State last month, Manning looked like the guy everyone thought he was going to be, but he has since regressed.
“It’s hard to believe we’re here,” he said.
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“His second half against Ohio State, particularly the last two drives, that looked like the guy that everybody talked about. He was phenomenal. But he’s gone backwards.”
Meyer said that last season, Texas didn’t have great wide receivers, which he believed was a viable excuse for Manning’s struggles against tougher teams. This season, Manning has struggled despite having Cam Coleman and Ryan Wingo, two standout wide receivers, and Meyer thinks Manning should be benched.
He cited Michigan as an example of how benching a quarterback can work.
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“You saw coach Kyle Whittingham make the change at quarterback. Instant spark. They beat Penn State. We all know if they don’t make that change, they lose to Penn State. So, I think they’re at that inflection point right now,” Meyer said.
Longhorns backup quarterback KJ Lacey Jr. has taken more first-team reps, and Meyer said head coach Steve Sarkisian has to take reps away from Manning.
“You got to start giving that guy reps and then at (that) point, it’s going to be a really really difficult decision if he’s going to make that decision to make a change, because I’m really worried about Texas. They look awful.”
After the Longhorns’ loss to Florida on Saturday, they dropped from No. 12 to No. 19 in the latest AP Top 25 poll. Texas’ schedule does not get any easier, as the Longhorns face No. 7 Ole Miss on Saturday night.