As the sun set on Samford Stadium for a mid-November matchup with the Georgia Bulldogs and the Texas Longhorns, you could feel the anticipation rising before this 2024 SEC Championship rematch.
Some would say the young, esteemed quarterback Arch Manning has not “lived up” to the hype, or to the Texas standard, but after taking a closer look into his development over the 2025 season. He is much further than most would expect.
As I watched him from the end zone last Saturday, I noticed the young prodigy was every bit of 6’4, possibly 6’6 with equipment, as he warmed up his arm as his uncle, Peyton, admired just a few steps away. Arch is navigating his own journey in the shadows of his legendary last name shared by two Super Bowl winning MVPs for uncles (Peyton and Eli Manning) and a grandfather, Archie, who set the family standard for being an NFL quarterback.
The youngest Manning started off the 2025 season in a tough matchup vs. Ohio State in Columbus. Watching his progress from the start of this season has been that of a slow but steady incline. His performance in home games has been much better than on the road with a 69.1 vs. 57.7 completion rate. Arch has played his best ball in the 3rd quarter this season as he has a 76.0 percent completion rate. The Georgia defense is one of the top defenses in the nation and it was evident that Arch prepared well, but did not have the full support of his receiving core.
There were three crucial drops that could have changed the outcome of the game, but this is a team sport that relies on all pieces of the machine to function. Even though there is still football to be played this season, with such a young team and massive NIL budget, the rise of Texas in 2026 should be epic and fun to watch. That will center around Manning as the key figure and the next wave who's still a work-in-progress for the Longhorns.
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