Arch Manning’s debut left fans and critics howling about failure on the big stage. However, A former national championship winning coach, Urban Meyer, took a more measured approach to Manning’s very first 2025 outing.
On the Triple Option podcast this week with Meyer, Mark Ingram II and Fox Sports’ Rob Stone, the three discussed Manning’s performance against Ohio State, with Meyer commenting that he’s more interested in how the Texas quarterback responds for the rest of the season.
“I’m anxious to see how he develops as a player,” said Meyer. “Because, you know, potential first pick in the NFL draft, Heisman and I’m going, Oh my god. Wait!”
With the heaps of preseason love and plenty of recognition based on his last name alone, Urban Meyer made sure ot emphasize the unbelievable pressure the Texas quarterback was under on Saturday.
“All those scouts were there, GMs were there as well,” he noted. “Other than Tim Tebow, I’ve never seen more pressure on one player in my lifetime than Arch Manning. When I was coaching Tim, you know, he’d worry about it, and they’re all human.”
Good to know Arch Manning isn’t the first prodigal quarterback prospect to be caught in a storm of expectation and struggle with the experience at first. Meyer could tell you, things worked out pretty good for Tim Tebow, and he believes a terrific season could still be in store for the Longhorn QB1.
“He’s a wonderful dude from a great family and he’s so talented,” Meyer added. “Watch for him to be a monster here in the last half of the season. It’s going to take a minute.”
Plus, for all of his flaws, Manning didn’t have Texas that far out of position for the win… at defending champion Ohio State. Remember, the Longhorns drove all the way down to the one-yard line on a drive but failed to punch it through on fourth down. Well, that’s seven points the team could have had right there to even up the score at 14-14.
Even with the goal line stand, once Texas dropped into survival mode frantically trying to collect two touchdown scores before the fourth quarter horn sounded, Manning let the football rip with more confidence, and more importantly, a lot less fear.
Because as Bode from Point Break once said, fear causes hesitation, and hesitation causes your worst fears to become realized. You could say that was a worst-case day for Arch Manning, and yet, he had a shot against the new No. 1 team in the nation on their home field.
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